Brothers
by Angelina Aintithenniel
Summary: A series of stories featuring Robin's relations with Batman, his teammates, and Roy. Ch. 53: Robin sailed through the air, twisting slightly as he fell. He wondered if people felt this adrenalin surge when they jumped. For him this was the ultimate release, the thing that made him happy. Was it like that for those unfortunate souls?
1. Adventures in Babysitting

Adventures in Babysitting

Starring a cranky (but caring) Archer, a hyper Speedster, and a gullible Ninja

By

Angelina

Ollie had dropped Roy off at Wayne Manor before the archer could figure out what was going on. Though he loved his little brothers he really hated it when he got conned into babysitting them while the Justice League was off on another one of their oh-so important missions. He grumbled as Bruce begin giving him the same old talk that he encountered every time he came to babysit Richard. Roy ignored most of what Bruce was saying; he had heard this spiel at least a dozen times and could probably quote it.

"Roy, are you listening to me?" Bruce's voice cut harshly into Roy's annoyed musings.

"Huh, oh yeah Bruce. Wally gets no sugar at any time, neither does Dick. Both have to be bathed and in bed by eight. Don't let Dick do acrobatics on any of the furniture and keep Wally away from the china cabinet, and anything else breakable for that matter. Emergency numbers are on the fridge and Alfred is not to be contacted, no matter what," Roy counted off the list on his fingers.

Bruce gave the archer a scathing look which said he knew that he had been ignoring his instructions. Roy shrugged; he was used to Bruce's scowls. As long as he didn't get the Bat-glare he could put up with most of Bruce's looks.

"I will call to check in when I can. Have a nice weekend," Bruce walked out the door with Ollie leaving Roy alone in the mansion with his two charges.

Wally immediately ran up to Roy and began tugging on one of his arms. "What'sfowlunch? Dowegetdessewt? Takemetothepawk,Iwanttoswing! Canweplaytag?" The hyper speedster shot off a series of requests rapid fire. Roy did not understand a word he said but figured most of it had been either about food or some game that Wally had wanted to play.

He took a firm hold of the speedster's hand and walked him into the kitchen where he fixed Wally three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Wally eagerly set upon the food without so much as a 'thank you.' Roy refrained from rolling his eyes, he was used to this.

"Dick, where are you?" Roy had learned long ago that it was much easier to just call the ninja instead of going in search of him. That particular task could take hours...

A few minutes later a small, black haired boy poked his head around the corner, blue eyes shining as he saw his older brother standing in the kitchen with his best friend. The eight-year-old ran into the kitchen and wrapped his small arms around Roy's leg. Roy sighed, for some reason the kid had an insufferable need for physical contact.

Wally had finished his sandwiches by now and was zooming around the kitchen. "Can we play a game, Woy, please?" At ten year's old, Wally had a speech impediment that obscured most of his r's, much to Roy's displeasure.

"Sure." Roy grumbled as Wally continued to run around the kitchen, resembling a red blur.

"Yay! How 'bout tag?"

"I want to play hide-and-seek!" Dick spoke up for the first time.

"No and no," Roy pinched the bridge of his nose, remembering how disastrous both games could be when they involved a speedster and a ninja. Last time they had played hide-and-seek Roy had spent a day looking for Dick before he had finally found the eight-year-old asleep in an air vent.

"How about we _walk_," he paused to glare at Wally before continuing, "down to the park."

Wally nodded emphatically and Dick gave a small smile. Roy got both of them dressed for the outdoors and then made sure they each had a jacket on before he let them out the door. The walk to the park was fairly uneventful. Dick held Roy's hand the entire time and Wally chased every squirrel in sight.

Once they got to the park Wally ran off to the swings while Dick started climbing on the jungle-gym. Roy sat on a bench that had a clear view of both boys. The two friends had a fun time and even got the archer to play a game of cops and robbers with them. Roy had finally managed to catch Wally when Dick threw him at Roy, dashing off cackling as Wally was tickled mercilessly. After another half-an-hour Roy decided that it was time to go home and get dinner started. He retrieved Wally from the swings and spent fifteen minutes trying to coax Dick out of a tree before he finally climbed up after the ninja.

Back at the manor he got both boys to play Chutes and Ladders whilst he made chicken noodle soup for dinner. He looked around the kitchen for an apron before discovering that the only one in the house was a frilly pink one with 'Kiss the cook' written across it. "Bruce!" he scowled but slipped into the apron nonetheless. Ten minutes later he heard the sound of arguing from the room where he had left the two boys.

"You cheated!" Dick sounded indignant and Roy sighed, why did all of their board games end up in Wally cheating.

"No I didn't!" The young speedster protested.

"Yes you did!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Roy!" Dick wailed.

Roy walked into the room with stern look on his face. Dick immediately ran behind Roy's legs where he stuck his tongue out at Wally.

"That's enough of Chutes and Ladders." Roy took both boys into the rec room where he put on Toy Story for the two to watch while he finished dinner.

"Nice apron," Wally called as Roy exited the room.

After dinner Roy shooed both of them back to the rec room to finish the movie while he did his homework.

Barely an hour later, Dick had fallen asleep watching the movie and Roy was engrossed in his algebra. Wally took the opportunity to zip around the house looking for sweets. In the kitchen Wally found a warm plate of muffins that Roy had set out to cool for the morning's breakfast.

He quickly scarfed down two before he got an evil idea. Being the prankster that he was Wally could not resist the idea and he quickly sped off to another part of the manor. In a craft cabinet Wally found a tube of glitter-glue and spread the entire tube over the top of one of the muffins. After he was done Wally inspected his masterpiece, the glitter-glue looked like sparkly frosting on top. Little ninja would never suspect a thing.

Wally sped back into the rec room noticing that Roy's attention was still absorbed by his homework. Wally woke Dick up and handed him the cupcake. Dick eyed it suspiciously but ended up accepting it. He ate the whole thing before he noticed that it tasted off.

"What did you do to it?" Dick was upset with himself for not expecting the prank.

Wally smirked but said nothing. When Dick went to wail for Roy again Wally clapped his hand over the ninja's mouth and then tickled him until his giggles drowned out the movie.

The noise attracted Roy's attention and with a small start he realized that it was already 7:30. "Time for a bath you two." Roy said as he picked each boy up and threw them over his shoulders before they could protest.

He got both of them cleaned up and in bed by eight. They made him stay and read them a bedtime story. After that was done the archer left, dimming the lights as he did so. He knew that Dick would get nightmares if it was completely dark so he didn't turn them all the way off.

It was about midnight when Roy had finished his homework and considered going to bed. On the way to the room that Alfred always gave him he was stopped by a frightened red head.

"Woycomequick,Dick'ssick!" The speedster exclaimed as he grabbed one of Roy's arms and hauled the archer off to Dick's room.

The sight that met the archer was not pleasant. Dick was leaning over the trashcan puking his guts out; he hadn't even made it to the bathroom.

Roy walked over to the boy and saw him puke up another round of glitter… wait, glitter? The archer turned to glare at Wally as he rubbed soothing circles in Dick's back. "What did you do?"

"What makes you so suwe I did it?"

Roy glared at the speedster as Dick puked up more glitter.

Wally put both hands behind his back and looked at his feet as he scuffed the ground with his bare foot. "I may have, possibly, given him a muffin covewed in glittew-glue."

Roy facepalmed and picked Dick up, rushing him into the bathroom before he could throw up again. Fifteen minutes late Dick had stopped throwing up. The toilet was covered in a mixture of puke and glitter, as was much of the tile floor and Roy's shirt. Roy pulled a washcloth out and ran some water over it. He cleaned off Dick and himself before he tossed Wally a roll of paper towels and hoisted the exhausted eight-year-old into his arms. "Clean it up." Roy growled when Wally gave him a questioning look.

"But Wooooyyyyy!" Wally whined as he looked at the mess.

"You gave him the glitter, you clean it up. You have superspeed; it shouldn't take you that long." Roy held Dick closer to himself as the boy whimpered. He left the speedster alone in the bathroom and carried Dick to the infirmary where he hooked the boy up to an I.V. It would probably be wise to get some fluids in the boy after the amount he had just puked up.

After a few minutes the colour returned to the boy's pale face and Dick fell asleep. Roy tucked him in and slipped Batbear under his arm. The boy clutched the stuffed animal to him tightly. Roy's scowl softened at the sight.

He left Dick and walked back up to check on Wally. The speedster was done with the bathroom and was getting out of his soiled clothes and into some clean ones. Roy helped him into bed and stayed with the kid until he was asleep. He then sanitized the bathroom and stuck their soiled clothing in the washer. He fell asleep an hour later sitting next to Dick's bed.

Roy sleep was disturbed at 7 am when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket to see Bruce's number flashing across his caller I.D. _Crap, what am I going to tell him?_

He answered the phone. "Wally did it!"

**A/N This story was based off of an experience I had when I was five. My twin brothers decided it would be funny to feed glitter-glue to me. I spent the night with the toilet. Anyway I hoped you enjoyed it. With school starting I shall hopefully be able to update this series once a week but I can't guarantee anything. **

**Thanks for reading :) **


	2. Movie Night

**Rated: K**

"You are all to take the day off. That means no training, no missions, and nothing hero related. The League wants you to spend the day bonding," Batman announced, much to the astonishment of the elite teenage team. The Caped Crusader watched as surprise flitted across the young faces of the former sidekicks before he left the room silently, no one but Robin realizing that he had gone.

"What now?" asked Wally in an absurdly high pitched voice.

"May I suggest that you all watch some movies?" Red Tornado called over his shoulder as he left them to their own devices.

"That's not a bad idea," agreed Artemis

"What should we watch?" Conner asked.

"Romance," Artemis and Megan chimed in.

"Action," shouted Robin energetically.

"Comedy," Wally managed to say at the same time as Robin spoke up.

The ever practical Kaldur, sensing a quickly ensuing argument, decided to put his two cents in before there was an all-out brawl. "Why do we not each pick one movie and we shall watch them all together. That way we shall get to know a little bit more about each other."

The others agreed and went off in search of their favourite movies. Fifteen minutes later they were all gathered in the common room with their choices.

Kaldur offered up the movie Jaws much to Wally's amusement. Megan clutched an old and battered copy of My Fair Lady. "It was the first earth movie that I ever watched," she danced around the room with the movie held tightly against her chest.

Robin groaned; that was Alfred's favourite movie. He had seen it so many times now that he was sure he could quote the whole thing. He produced his choice: a James Bond movie.

"Is that a Sean Connery?" Wally asked with a raised eyebrow.

Robin nodded, "there is no other James Bond."

Wally laughed at his friend before quickly chucking Ghostbusters into the pile. Artemis rolled her eyes and muttered some sarcastic remark under her breath that made Conner blush. She then added The Princess Bride to the pile. Wally smirked and the two were quickly caught up into a fight. Conner walked up shyly and dropped the Matrix down on top of the other movies.

While Robin set up the movies Megan slipped off to the kitchen to make some popcorn. Kaldur quickly followed to ensure that the Martian did not set anything on fire. Wally and Artemis were still at each other's' throats. Conner was trying to cover his ears from the racquet that they were making.

A few minutes later Robin had the first movie set up and the big screen television crackled to life. The previews sounded out through the surround sound in the mountain and stopped Wally and Artemis' argument. They both huffed and made their way to the couch as M'gann flew out of the kitchen, levitating two large bowls of popcorn behind her.

Robin threw himself down on the couch next to Conner and Wally sat down beside his best friend. M'gann floated over and placed herself on the other side of Conner. Kaldur claimed the loveseat leaving Artemis to sit in the only seat left: a spot on the couch next to Wally. She humphed and sat down with a glare at the speedster who was currently stuffing his face full of popcorn.

Ghostbusters came on first and Wally laughed most of the way through it. M'gann and Conner were completely lost and Robin had to explain most of the movie to them.

Jaws came on next and Kaldur chuckled at most of it. Everyone was slightly shocked at their leader's actions but decided that it must be some Atlantian thing.

After much begging by M'gann Robin put in My Fair Lady and just as he predicted he could quote the entire movie. He made a mental note to himself to hide Alfred's copy and then buy the butler another musical for Christmas. The Sound of Music could be a nice change.

The Matrix was next on the list. By now Kaldur had taking to reading Moby Dick and M'gann was making another two bowls of popcorn as Wally had eaten the last two refills. When she came back out with the freshly popped popcorn Artemis smacked Wally's hand away and grabbed one bowl for herself giving the other to Conner to keep away from the speedster.

"Dude that is so not cool." Wally complained and Dick smacked him the face with a pillow giving him his own Bat-glare when he went to retaliate.

The Princess Bride played across the screen and Wally spent most of the movie sneaking popcorn from Artemis' bowl when she wasn't looking. Half way through the movie Artemis put her hand into the bowl to find that all of the popcorn was gone. She smacked Wally upside the head with a rolled up magazine when she saw his mouth stuffed with popcorn.

By the time the James Bond movie was on everyone was drifting off to sleep.

Kaldur was curled up in the loveseat, his book lying a few inches away from his open hand. M'gann slowly fell asleep with Conner's arm wrapped around her shoulder. She rested her head on the clone's shoulder and was out like a light. Conner saw Robin slowly falling forward as the little ninja fell asleep and grabbed him before he could fall of the sofa. Robin then fell asleep with his head in Conner's lap and his leg's over Wally's lap. Wally had fallen asleep with his hand in the popcorn bowl. Artemis was asleep with her head resting against Wally's shoulder and Wally's head was resting on hers.

They stayed like that for several hours before Robin awoke. He glanced around at his team and smiled; it was nice that he had found a family. It was a weird, oddball family, but no less precious.

**A/N This story was inspired by a piece on deviantart. Hope you liked it :D**


	3. Sacrifice

Sacrifice

By

Angelina

**Rating: T for violence**

It was supposed to be a simple recon mission. Why was it always the simple recon missions that went wrong? Kaldur put his head in his hands as hundreds of thoughts raced through his mind. He was the leader; he was the one everyone looked to for direction. He was supposed to know what to do. So how could everything have gone so horribly wrong?

He looked up at the unconscious form lying on the sterile hospital bed. It was his fault. He should have known something was wrong. He should have been able to stop it. He shouldn't have let his teammate sacrifice himself for the rest of the team. It should be him lying in that bed, it should be him.

He leaned back into his chair and sighed. Everyone else was asleep, so that just left him and his thoughts alone in the depressingly white room.

As Kaldur watched the steady beep of the heart monitor he allowed his mind to wander back to the events that led him to being stuck in this room, watching a teammate that may never wake up again.

* * *

><p>They were in a lab on the outskirts of Gotham. The week prior some deadly toxin had been stolen from Star Labs. Batman had traced its trail to some abandoned labs and had sent the team to retrieve any information or samples that they could find.<p>

But everything had gone horribly wrong when vines had sprung out of nowhere and pinned Artemis and Wally to the wall. Kaldur, Megan, and Conner had immediately gone to their friends' aid only to find themselves in the same predicament. Robin had been the only one to escape the vines as he had experience with the situation.

As the teens continued to struggle against their bonds Poison Ivy strolled into the light with a vine wrapped around the container of toxin they had been sent to find. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Ivy gloated over her catch and went off in a monologue about how she was going to use the deadly toxin, which just so happened to be plant based, against a Gotham company that was planning Rain Forest deforestation. But to be perfectly honest, no one was really listening to her. Instead the team was busy formulating a plan via mind link. Ok… Kid Flash was freaking out, Artemis was yelling at the speedster, Superboy was too busy trying to break free, and Megan was using all her energy to keep the link open, so it was just Aqualad and Robin that were planning.

"_Hold on guys, I can have you out in a minute," _thought Robin. It was only then that Kaldur saw a shifting in the shadows behind the still monologuing Ivy.

"_No Robin, take care of the mission first. Priority is to make sure the toxin does not fall in enemy hands. Worry about us later." _

Robin nodded then realized that no one could see him nod. He shrugged and snuck up behind Ivy, contemplating how he would get the toxins away from her. He couldn't blow them to kingdom come because that would likely kill his teammates. The vile of toxin was small and if it really was what Batman said it was then he carried a solution in his utility belt that would nullify the effects of the toxin. He just had to get the vile away from Ivy without breaking it.

Robin took a deep breath and threw two bird-a-rangs, one hit Ivy in the back of the head knocking the villainess prone, and the other sliced the vine holding the toxin. He caught the toxins before they could hit the ground. He quickly pulled the anti-toxin out of his belt and mixed it with the toxin in the vile. The change in the toxin's colour alerted Robin to the fact that he had been successful in destroying the toxin. Now he just had to get his friends out and hope that there wasn't any more of the toxin.

But when Robin turned his attention back to his friends he was horrified to see that they were being their air supply was being cut off by Ivy's vines. "You shouldn't have done that little bird." Ivy said as the vines tightened around his friends' necks.

Robin didn't know what to do, "Stop!"

"Why should I, little bird? You have nothing to give me in return." Wally was looking blue in the face and Megan had gone a lighter shade of green as the vines squeezed even tighter.

"I-I'll do anything." Robin choked out as he saw Artemis' movements start to weaken. He knew that in another moment his teammates would be dead.

"Anything, little bird?"

"Anything," Robin said with as much conviction as he could put in his wavering voice.

"_No, Robin, don't!"_ Kaldur cried into the bird's mind.

"Come with me, be mine." Ivy held out her hand to Robin.

"_No Rob-"_ Kaldur's mind began to shut down as it was deprived of oxygen.

Robin took an involuntary step back but then steeled himself and reached out to take Ivy's hand. As soon as he took her hand vines wrapped around him stopping any chances of escape that he had. She blew pink dust in his face and he could feel his mind reel, iron bars seemed to trap his consciousness inside of his own body. "Come with me little bird." His body responded immediately and he followed the villainess as she walked away from his friends.

As she led him out of the lab he saw the vines release his friends, they slumped to the ground and he prayed that he had been in time to save them. That was the last thing that Robin could remember thinking.

Aqualad sat up, sucking in huge breaths of air greedily. As soon as the ringing in his head stopped he quickly made his way to his fallen comrades. Conner was fine, Wally was wobbling, Megan was gasping in Conner's arms as she regained consciousness, and Artemis was getting to unsteady feet.

"Robin?" Wally asked.

Kaldur shook his head. "She took him."

"What now?" Conner asked as he set Megan back on her feet.

"Now we call Batman." Kaldur sighed and pulled out his communicator. He did not want to be the one to break the news to Batman but he was, after all, the leader.

An hour later Batman and the Young Justice team were surrounding another run-down lab. Batman hovered near a skylight as Kaldur just stood apprehensively behind the silent hero. "Your team is to keep perimeter. Ivy does not get out. Do not come in unless I expressly call for backup." The commands were gruff.

"Yes Batman." Kaldur said quietly.

Batman nodded his head, more to try and clear it of the worry rather than to acknowledge the Altantian's reply. He opened the sky light and silently slipped inside leaving Aqualad alone on the rooftop.

As soon as Batman lightly touched down on the floor of the lab a small ball of fury was unleashed on him. He immediately recognized the fighting style of his protégé. Batman blocked the numerous blows that Robin rained down on him but never raised a fist to strike the boy. He knew that Ivy was controlling him but he couldn't bring himself to fight his partner. A few minutes later he had been backed into a corner as he continued to fend off Robin's attacks. If he didn't attack back soon, he would be in an even more precarious position.

"What are you waiting for? Finish him!" Ivy hollered as she stepped into view for the first time.

Robin rounded on his mentor with an explosive bird-a-rang clutched in his fist. Batman gave the boy a look that spoke volumes to Robin's clouded mind. He froze as the light of recognition flooded his eyes. "No," Robin said firmly.

Ivy looked at Robin and then at Batman with hate in her eyes, "Robin, I command you to end him!"

"NO!" Robin shouted and Batman swept in front of the boy, advancing on Poison Ivy. Several bat-a-rangs went flying at the villainess cutting down the vines that she was sending his way. A heated battle quickly ensued. Bat-a-rangs, vines, and bird-a-rangs were flying around the trio as they fought fiercely. Finally Ivy was backed into a corner but before Batman could deliver the final blow she stopped him in his tracks with a question, "What's more important to you Batman: me or the life of your partner?"

Batman turned to see a vine impaled in Robin's chest. As he watched the vine slowly slithered out and fell to the floor along with the Boy Wonder's bloody body. "Robin!"

With rage burning in his masked eyes the Dark Knight turned back to beat the living daylights out of Ivy but she was gone. Without further hesitation Batman ran to his partner's side and inspected the injury. He hoped that the vine had not punctured any major organs but he couldn't be sure. Batman quickly grabbed some bandages out of a pouch in his utility belt and applied pressure to the bleeding wound. He prayed that he would not be too late to save his boy.

Outside Aqualad had a firm hold on the unconscious Poison Ivy. When she had attempted to flee the scene the team had stopped her. Artemis sprained her ankle in the process but other than that no serious injuries had been acquired. The team was ready to congratulate each other on another successful mission when Batman emerged from the lab with an unconscious and bloodied Robin clutched in his arms.

* * *

><p>Now Kaldur sat in the Batcave watching as the youngest team member continued to sleep. It had been three days; three days and he had not yet wakened. Batman said that if he ever regained consciousness he would be alright. But the little bird continued to sleep, a sleep from which Kaldur feared he would never wake.<p>

Kaldur sat in the chair and stared at Robin's chest as it rose and fell. If he had only seen the warning signs that someone else was in the lab with them. If only he could have stopped Robin from giving himself up for them. If only he had done something, anything other than what he had done, than maybe this would have turned out differently. Maybe his friend would not be lying in a coma.

He was the leader and he had failed his teammate, he had failed Robin. If only he could trade places with the little bird.

Kaldur's thoughts continued to race far into the night. So much so that he did not realize that the boy's heart rate had increased and that a pair of bright blue eyes had opened.

"Kaldur?" Robin asked when he saw that he was the only other person in the room that was awake.

Kaldur was immediately brought out of his thoughts and in two steps he had crossed over to kneel at Robin's bedside. "Robin! You are awake. We were so worried."

"Ivy?"

"In custody and awaiting trial," the team leader was quick to assure.

Robin breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed back into the pillows. Kaldur continued to kneel by Robin's bedside for several more minutes before he mustered the courage to speak. "Robin I cannot apologize enough to you. I failed you and because of my failure you almost died."

Robin looked into Kaldur's eyes the bright blue of the boy's eyes burning into the sorrowful silver of the Altantian's eyes. "Not your fault Kaldur. The situation was a disaster, heavy on the dis."

Kaldur clasped Robin's hand. "But I could do nothing. I let you fall into her hands."

"No. Kaldur, listen to me. It isn't your fault at all. I was the one who gave myself up, I put myself in the situation. But if you are set on blaming someone then blame the baddies; they are the ones who constantly put us in these situations. You are a good leader Kaldur, you know what the team needs, you can remain calm in almost any situation, you are level-headed in crisis, mature, and you help keep us all sane. Without you I doubt some of us would even be here, I know I wouldn't."

Kaldur looked at the little ninja as his eyes started to slide closed again, his own eyes bearing the gratitude that he felt to the young but wise boy. "You shall make a great leader one day Robin."

**A/N No too happy with the ending but eh…Also this is my first time attempting to write Kaldur…**

**Review**

**\/**


	4. All the Single Ladies

All the Single Ladies

By

Angelina

**Disclaimer: I do no own Young Justice or the song Single Ladies**

**Now on with the story :P**

**Rated: T for the song and hip-shaking**

It was Saturday and Robin had no idea why Batman saw fit to dump him off at Mount Justice… _again_. It's not like he couldn't take care of himself. But with Alfred out of the country and Batman off on another league mission, Robin found himself stuck in the quiet mountain with nothing to do.

The team was off somewhere in Happy Harbour and Robin was alone and bored out of his mind. He had already finished all of his homework, sorted through the fridge, trained, brought all of the computers up-to-date, de-pranked his room (stupid speedster), installed a state-of-the-art lock system on his room (stupid speedster), and read through the stash of Playboy magazines that Wally kept hidden in a ceiling tile (he loved that speedster).

Robin was officially out of stuff to do.

He contented himself with flipping through television channels. After his third go-around he came across a radio station. Robin paused for the moment and listened to the song. He didn't really know which song it was, nor for that matter what said singer was singing, but he found himself in the mood to keep listening. After the song ended there was a not-so-brief commercial interruption and then the DJ came back on announcing that Beyoncé's Single Ladies was up next. Robin turned the volume up as loud as it would go, he liked this song.

The team chose that moment to return but Robin did not hear the computer announce their arrivals over the beginning of the song. As they walked back into their base the team could hear music blaring through the mountain and echoing off the walls.

_All the single ladies, all the single ladies_

_All the single ladies, all the single ladies_

"What is that?" Megan asked with wide eyes.

"That's Beyoncé," Artemis replied as the team went to investigate.

_All the single ladies, all the single ladies,_

_All the single ladies_

The team poked their heads around the door and saw, much to their bemusement, Robin dancing about the common room without a care in the world, singing at the top of his voice.

_Now put your hands up_

_Up in the club, we just broke up_

_I'm doing my own little thing_

_you Decided to dip but now you wanna trip_

_Cuz another brother noticed me_

_I'm up on him, he up on me_

_dont pay him any attention_

_cuz I cried my tears, GAVE three good years_

_Ya can't be mad at me_

"What is he doing?" Conner asked as the rest of the team gaped.

"It appears that he is dancing?" Kaldur could not believe his eyes as Robin danced around the room and over the furniture, shaking his hips like there was no tomorrow. The rest of the team had their jaws scraping the floor. Wally's eyes were bigger than saucers.

_Cuz if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it_

_If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it_

_Don't be mad once you see that he want it_

_If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it_

_woo oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh oh_

_woo oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh oh_

It was then that the little bird noticed the team for the first time. But instead of blushing profusely and offering an explanation to his actions, he grabbed Megan's hands and dragged her out to dance with him. The Martian squealed and began laughing with joy as she followed Robin in his crazy movements. The team managed to pick their jaws up off the floor as the two continued to dance.

_I got gloss on my lips, a man on my hips_

_hold me tighter than my Dereon jeans_

_acting up, drink in my cup_

_I couldnt care less what you think_

_I need no permission, did I mention_

_Dont pay him any attention_

_Cuz you had your turn_

_But now you gonna learn_

_What it really feels like to miss me_

Artemis shrugged at the team, threw her hands up, and joined Megan and Robin. Her hips led the way as she climbed atop of the overturned couch and proceeded to give belly dancers a run for their money.

_Cuz if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it_

_If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it_

_Don't be mad once you see that he want it_

_If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it_

_wo oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh oh_

_wo oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh oh_

"Wait for me!" Wally yelled and sped off, grabbed Artemis' waist, and began dancing with the archer.

_Don't treat me to the things of this world_

_I'm not that kind of girl_

_Your love is what I prefer, what I deserve_

_Is a man that makes me, then takes me_

_And delivers me to a destiny, to infinity and beyond_

_Pull me into your arms_

_Say I'm the one you WANT_

_If you don't, you'll be alone_

_And like a ghost I'll be gone_

"If you can't beat 'em, join them!" Conner yelled to Kaldur as he twirled off after Artemis and Wally. The Atlantian could only stare agape as Connor joined the rest of the team.

_All the single ladies, all the single ladies_

_All the single ladies, all the single ladies_

_All the single ladies, all the single ladies, _

_All the single ladies_

Kaldur looked to Conner and shrugged. A minute later he was being pulled through the steps to Single Ladies by an enthusiastic Megan.

_Now put your hands up_

_woo oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh oh_

_woo oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh oh_

Megan's squeals, Conner's deep laughter, Wally's hyper chuckles, and Robin's insane cackle could be heard over the music. Kaldur had created a water girl which he was now dancing with. And Artemis learned that she could have quite the profession as a dancer, much to Wally's amusement.

_Cuz if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it_

_If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it_

_Don't be mad once you see that he want it_

_If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it woo oh ooh_

The couch, love seat, armchair, and waste basket had all been knocked over as the teens danced around the now destroyed common room without a care in the world. For now, the mountain was theirs and responsibility had fled to leave the young heroes to enjoy their teenage bliss.

_Cuz if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it_

_If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it_

_Don't be mad once you see that he want it_

_If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it woo oh ooh_

Batman watched from the shadows; it was good to see his partner having fun with his teammates. That said, however, his taste in music would have to be addressed when they got back to Gotham…

**A/N This was based off of a true story. One day I was home alone, or so I thought, and I decided to put Single Ladies on while I dusted the living room. Five of my six brothers (Andy, 27. Dan, 22. Charlie, 19. The twins: Josh and Jon, 17) chose that moment to walk through the front door. But instead of making fun of me they decided to join me and we spent 15 minutes dancing to different songs. My family is crazy but I love them so much. **

**I do love ridiculous stories :D**

**Did you like it, hate it, or was it too ridiculous? **

**Review**

**V**

**Please and Thank You**


	5. Allergies and Trees Do Not Mix

Allergies and Trees Do Not Mix

By

Angelina

**Rated: K+**

Dick woke up with a horribly stuffy nose and a sore throat. Upon sitting up in bed, he was greeted by a loud sneezing fit. "I hate allergies," he grumbled as he rolled out of bed.

He grabbed some Sudafed and Claritin out of the bathroom cabinet and downed the lot. It seemed to help for a few hours but he was soon reduced to a sniffling mess. Of course his allergies would have chosen the day when he got to stay at Mount Justice and hang out with Roy and Wally to strike. They couldn't have chosen a rainy day in Gotham when he had nothing to do, no they just had to ruin the day that he had been looking forward to for two months.

Robin grumbled as he reached across the couch for another tissue. The wastebasket was already overflowing with used tissues and no end to his suffering seemed to be in sight. The boy was overcome with a sneezing fit as Wally sped into the room.

"Got a cold, Rob?" Wally asked as it was unusual for Robin to get sick. In fact, the last time he could ever remember Robin getting sick was when he had fed him a tube of glitter glue.

"Na, just allergies," the ninja said as he produced his package of Claritin. He swallowed several of the pills and blew his nose into a tissue.

"Still up for going to the park with Roy?" asked Wally as he plopped down beside his best friend and little brother.

"You bet." Robin was not going to miss out on the outing the two friends had been planning for three months. It was rare for the trio to be able to get together now days. Sometimes Robin missed the old days. He sniffled and turned on his computer, at least he could get some work done before Roy arrived.

An hour later Wally was eating lunch and Robin was on the couch with his computer, feeling slightly better, when the computer announced the arrival of Speedy.

"It's Red Arrow!" Roy hollered as the computer misidentified him for the upteenth time.

"Roy!" Wally was a blur as he charged Roy and threw himself on the hero, who had to take a few steps back to keep his balance. Robin turned his computer off and went to join the two.

It had been several months since they had seen their friend, and big brother, so both were understandably excited. It took Roy several minutes to untangle himself from the rib bruising hugs that both boys had him in.

"You guys ready?" the archer asked as he ruffled their mops of red and black hair.

"Yeah!" Wally called and raced off towards the garage where they kept the bikes. Robin appeared a few minutes later with a picnic basket. They all changed into their civilian attire before they left.

Fifteen minutes later found them in the Happy Harbour Park. Dick spread out a picnic full of everyone's favourite foods and desserts, Alfred had been kind enough to cook for them. Both Roy and Wally eagerly attacked the food, complimenting the butler's prowess between bites.

After they were done eating Wally produced a football and Roy immediately stole it from him. The speedster ran after the archer as the latter ran off laughing maniacally. Dick was sitting on the ground, laughing and holding his ribs as he watched the two fight over the ball. When Wally finally got the ball back the three spent half an hour tossing it around.

Next Roy brought out several Frisbees and they played a couple rounds of Frisbee golf. Dick ended up winning all of the Frisbee games. On the last hole of the final round Wally grabbed Dick's Frisbee out of midair and broke it in half before Dick could win the last round. Roy had to step in before the younger boys got into their usual argument about Wally cheating. "Why don't we play something else?"

"Let's play tag!" Wally shouted and Roy facepalmed. No matter how many years passed Wally never got tired of that game.

"Only if you promise to not cheat and give us a minute head start to hide." Roy said as he stood up. He knew that the speedster would most certainly cheat but he didn't want Dick to suggest hide-and-seek. That game was much worse than tag.

"Me cheat?" asked Wally with an injured air.

Dick rolled his eyes and then disappeared into the shadows with a cackle.

"Well I guess that starts the game," Roy hollered over his shoulder as he ran into the woods surrounding the park. Wally waited thirty seconds and then chased in after the two.

In a secluded section of woods Dick found a pine tree and climbed to the top of it, finding a nice nook to wedge himself into. Kid Flash may be fast but he couldn't catch what he couldn't find. Dick snickered at the thought but his laugh quickly turned into a sneezing fit.

Roy was running under a very tall pine tree when he heard a series of sneezes. He looked up and was slightly surprised to catch a glimpse of Dick's arm in its topmost bows. He never would have found the kid if his sneezing hadn't given him away. "You're going to give yourself away sneezing like that."

The ninja sniffled in response and blew his nose in a tissue that he carried in his utility belt, which he carried with him at all times.

"Hey, you ok kid?" It was unusual for the little bird to be sick and Roy was a little worried.

Even though it was just allergies Dick was feeling awful and light headed. He leaned his head back against the tree and cursed his allergies.

Roy was concerned when Dick didn't answer his question and began to climb the tree. He could hear the boy's sniffling as he got closer.

Dick was feeling really light headed now. Blood was pounding in his sinuses and just behind his eyes, making it fell like his head was in the clouds. He tried to get up and climb down but blackness was tinting his vision. The last thing he remembered was hearing Roy shout his name.

Roy was a few branches away when Dick fell. "DICK!" He swung out and caught Dick with one arm. But his lunge compromised his balance and he lost his footing. He was now hanging twenty feet in the air; one hand grasping for dear life to a branch while the other held the unconscious ninja. Roy knew he couldn't hold himself there for long, he could already feel his sap coated fingers slipping. "Wally!"

The speedster was nowhere to be found.

"Great, the one time we need him." Roy grumbled. He noted a branch about five feet directly below him and decided to take the chance before his grip failed. With a tense breath he let go of the branch and dropped to the one below. He hit it wrong and slipped but was able to right himself in time to land on his feet on the ground below, though the fall had definitely sprained his ankle.

Roy quickly looked Dick over for any injuries and breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he found none. He was lowering the little bird to the ground when Wally came speeding into the grove of pine trees.

"Ha found you gu- What happened?"

"Dunno; we'll have to ask him." Roy began patting Dick on the cheek but little ninja wasn't responding.

"Come on Dickie." Roy was shaking Dick's chin and the boy wasn't responding. The archer sighed and dug through Dick's shirt until he found the utility belt. He dug into the third pouch on the left, praying all the while that Dick had not re-organized his belt or added any new booby-traps. Finally he pulled out some smelling salts. "Bingo."

He waved the salts under the boy's nose and a few seconds later Dick regained consciousness gagging. "Wha-what happened?" he asked when he noticed both Roy and Wally leaning over him.

"You fell out of a tree." Roy answered.

Dick looked up at the tree he had been in and groaned. "Crap!" he exclaimed. "Someone catch me?" Dick distinctly remembered being up rather high and nothing felt like it was broken so he had a hard time believing that he fell the entire distance.

Roy nodded, "I did."

"Thanks," Dick sat up and then glanced back up at the pine tree he had fallen from. "Stupid allergies," he mumbled. Though he meant for the comment to go unheard both junior heroes picked it up with ease.

"Dude, _allergies_?" Kid Flash had not expected that to be the reason for the fall, if anything he would have suspected an injury, or a villain, even Roy pushing Dick, but never allergies. They seemed so harmless.

Dick glared at the speedster who quickly shut up and took an involuntary step back; he hated the Bat-glare. "Yes allergies, they can be severe and cause _complications_." Dick moved his neck from side-to-side until it gave of a satisfying pop.

Roy went to pick Dick up but the little bird nimbly gained his feet and took a step back. "I can walk."

"Fine," Roy straightened and held back a wince as he put pressure on his sprained appendage. "Next time tell us when you aren't feeling well. We could have avoided that."

Dick got a mischievous look in his eyes. "Where's the fun in that." He ran off with a cackle leaving Wally and Roy behind.

* * *

><p><strong>AN I do not really care for this story but I couldn't think of anything else to write so you get stuck with this crappy update. I hope someone liked it. **

**This, as a lot of these are, was based off a true story. I was climbing trees with my brother Charlie (I was 16 he was 18). I was about ten feet up in a tree when I got a really allergy attack and ended up fainting. I got a little bruised but other than that I was fine. You can faint from allergies, trust me!**


	6. Flickering Flames

Flickering Flames

By

Angelina

**A/N This chapter is a fill for Rowanfall's 'Soundtrack challenge.' **

**Rated: K**

The mansion was quiet. Bruce was out on a date with this week's air head socialite. Alfred was off somewhere, Dick had no idea where. The Young Justice team had been dismantled just the month before. So Dick was left alone in the eerily quiet manor with nothing but bitter memories.

The night was dark and dreary. A thunderstorm raged outside, sending loud claps of thunder echoing through the halls and lightning streaking outside the windows to outline the furniture in ghostly shadows. Rain pounded loudly against the window panes.

The noise the storm made sounded somewhere between forlorn and creepy. Had Dick not been living in the manor for the past nine years, he would have thought it was haunted on a night such as this.

The boy sighed and leaned back into the couch that he was curled up on. He pulled a blanket over him and up to his chin, one hand sticking out of his little cocoon to hold a cup of steaming cocoa. A fire crackled in the tall stone hearth in front of the couch and Dick gazed deeply into its dancing flames.

The melody of the storm outside sounded haunting but Dick listened to it with eager ears. When he was younger he had been afraid of thunderstorms but his mother had told him to listen to the music that it made. She would then sing him a haunting lullaby that she only sung when it stormed. When he listened to its music and his mother's singing he was no longer afraid of the storm.

Years later Dick could not remember the words to the lullaby but the tune was forever stuck in his mind. As the storm continued to rage outside he hummed it softly to himself, allowing his mind to wander as he stared into the flames and reflected on happier times.

The dancing tendrils of fire created pictures and to Robin's tired mind they began to resemble those that he loved. He saw the faces of his parents, smiles lighting up their faces. He saw the three of them dancing on the trapezes. He watched as they fell to their deaths.

That imaged failed and an image of Batman swinging through the streets of Gotham replaced it. He watched as a small figure swung behind the big bat with a smile gaily playing upon its face. Dick had forgotten how happy patrol used to make him.

Next an image of Alfred baking cookies danced through the fire. Dick smiled at the kindly old man.

Images of his team – former team – flickered by next. He saw Artemis whack Wally upside the head with a rolled up magazine. Megan was bringing in a plate of freshly burnt cookies. Conner was smiling as Robin showed him a new move. Kaldur looked on with a brotherly air. Now the flames flashed to the team's five year anniversary party. They had had so much fun that day, especially when Wally had ended up in the punch bowl. They had all become such good friends, too bad they hadn't known that day that in just two months the team would be no more.

The lullaby that Dick had been humming built up into a haunting crescendo and the images in the fire died, going back to simple flames. Dick hadn't realized that he had been crying until his shaking hand could no longer hold up the mug and it crashed to the floor. The mug shattered as it met Alfred's polished marble floor and the now cold cocoa spread out across the white marble, creating a stark contrast to its deep brown. Dick's song ended.

Dick buried his head into the blanket and let the silent tears keep coming until there was no more. It was the first time that he had cried about the team breaking up. But he couldn't help himself. They were gone, the friends he had known and fought alongside for the last five years.

Sure he still had Alfred and Bruce, but he had come to love his team over the years that they had been together and now that it was over Dick felt like five different pieces of him were missing. He would never laugh at Artemis' snarky wit again. He would never get to teach Megan how to make that soufflé. He would never get to make Conner smile again, or Kaldur laugh. He would never get to pull pranks with Wally or laugh at the speedster's antics again. They had all moved on and left him behind.

Megan had gone back to Mars, Wally had taken over the position of Flash after Barry had died, Kaldur had returned to Atlantis, Conner was off in Smallville, and no one knew where Artemis had disappeared to… well Batman knew, but he wasn't telling anybody. Dick was alone in Gotham again. His friends were gone; they were no longer a team.

The storm continued to rage outside, seeming to reflect Dick's mood as the boy continued to remember happier times. After an hour Dick finally reached the epiphany that he had been struggling to find for a month:

His team was no longer a team, they were no longer friends; but they were family. No matter how many battles were won and lost, no matter what happened, no matter how much time passed, nothing could change that fact. They would forever be bound with ties that could not be severed. The team may be over with but they were and would forever more be family.

Dick smiled and Robin's eerie cackles drowned out the thunder. As long as he still had breath in him he would forever remain their teammate, their friend, but most importantly: he would remain their brother. And he knew that his team felt the same way. Dick fell asleep in the warmth and comfort of that knowledge.

* * *

><p><strong>AN This story was inspired by Narnia Lullaby from the **_**Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe**_** soundtrack. The scene from the movie with Tumnus playing Narnia Lullaby on the pipes and Lucy watching the images in the fire inspired the idea for Robin's reflections :) Hope I did alright Rowanfall!**


	7. Bacon

Bacon

By

Angelina

**Rated: K**

Superboy woke up to one of the most delicious scents that he had ever smelled. He quickly dressed himself at a speed that would make Flash proud and followed his noise out his door, down the hall, and to the kitchen. Robin was standing in front of the stove with a spatula in one hand and an oven mit on the other. He was cooking something in a large, black skillet.

"Morning Conner." Robin didn't even turn from his task and Conner was slightly surprised that the boy had heard him come in over the sizzling noises that were coming from the pan. But then again, he was the Batman's protégé.

"What is that?" Conner pointed at the pan. He vaguely remembered Black Canary telling him that it was rude to point but he didn't really care.

"Bacon."

"What is bacon?" The clone did not remember Cadmus teaching him about this bacon. He wondered if it was some miracle food.

"You've never had bacon before?" Robin asked incredulously as he turned from the skillet to stare open-mouthed at the clone. "We'll just have to fix that." Robin pulled several pink and white strips from a package lying next to the stove and threw them on the skillet.

Conner walked over to the stove to see what was happening but backed up when a loud popping noise sounded and oil jumped from the pan to splash both him and Robin. Robin gave a small hiss as he rubbed at the place where the hot oil had created a small welt on his bare arm. Conner raised an eyebrow. Maybe this bacon was a villain.

Conner was about pick up the skillet and chuck it at the wall for hurting his friend when Robin grabbed hold of its handle and began flipping the now browned pieces of meat. "I hate it when the oil pops. Small prices to pay." Robin chuckled at the confused look in Superboy's eyes and flipped the last piece of bacon.

A gush of wind blew through the kitchen. "Dude, is that bacon?"

"Morning Wally." Robin chuckled as the speedster rushed to Conner's side and then sped over to Robin's side. "Can you make some for me?"

"Grab an extra skillet, I don't have enough room in mine to make enough for you."

In a flash Wally was tearing through all the cabinets to find a skillet. He was about to give a huff of frustration when Conner held out a large cast iron frying pan to the boy. Wally took it with a whoop and began loading it up with the raw bacon.

The noise woke Kaldur and he was soon walking down the hallway towards the loud voices. He was quite cranky about being woken up from his sleep, which he swore he didn't get enough of, when he smelled the delicious aroma of bacon. He decided that his crankiness could wait until after breakfast.

Kaldur wandered into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks when he saw all of the cabinet doors open and half of the kitchen's contents strewn over the floor and counters. In one corner Robin, Wally, and Conner stood in front of the stove.

"Morning Kaldur." Robin called without removing his eyes from his task.

Kaldur wandered in mumbling his good mornings to his teammates and leaned over Robin's shoulder to see what was going on. "Bacon?"

Robin nodded and began expertly flipping some bacon out of the skillet and onto a waiting plate.

"Dude, I am not sharing with him!" Wally called indignantly as he crouched protectively over his pan, which contained an entire package of bacon.

Robin rolled his eyes and Conner whacked the speedster upside the head. The clone then handed another skillet to Kaldur who immediately began to fry up his own breakfast.

Robin put more bacon into his pan and handed the plate of finished bacon to Conner. "Here you go Conner. Careful, they're still a little hot."

Conner took the plate that was offered to him and plucked a single brown strip of meat from it. He eyed it skeptically before raising it to his mouth and taking a small bite. He was immediately intoxicated with the taste and before he knew it he had eaten the entire plate. He decided that he liked bacon, he really liked it. Conner held out the empty plate to the wide-eyed little bird. "More?"

Robin cackled and took the plate from Conner, adding even more bacon to his pan. "You got it Supey."

"Good morning, everyone!" The cheerful voice of Megan floated through the kitchen as the Martian floated above their heads to observe what they were cooking.

"Morning Miss M."

"Morning, beautiful." Wally looked up at the pretty martian girl and missed the ominous popping coming from his pan. Robin laughed as the red-head danced up and down on the spot clutching his scalded hand.

"Can I help?"

"Sure Miss M. You can take my pan while I go grab some more bacon." Robin back flipped out of the way and cartwheeled to the fridge where he pulled out two more packages of bacon. Wally immediately sped over and grabbed one; he had already cooked and consumed his other package. Conner was eagerly stealing any of the finished pieces of bacon from his friends' pans and at least four empty packages of bacon were lying on the kitchen floor. Robin sighed and pulled out more packages, they were going to go through the whole month's supply of bacon in one morning.

Five minutes later everyone was eating their finished bacon and Megan was laughing loudly as Wally's bacon was stolen by Superboy. The clone gave Wally a 'you can't catch me' look before he sped out of the kitchen with Wally's plate of bacon clutched in his hands.

"Give that back!" Wally yelled indignantly as he chased after Superboy.

Robin was doubled over with laughter, clutching at his aching ribs. Kaldur had a hand over his mouth trying to suppress his own glee. And Megan choked on a piece of bacon as she rolled over in the air with loud giggles.

No one noticed Megan's bacon began to burn.

Artemis was the last to wake. She sat up in bed to the sound of laughter and the smell of bacon and burnt bacon. Loud squeals were now carrying down the hall to her and she heard the hiss of a fire extinguisher. "I don't want to know." She mumbled as she lay back down and pulled a pillow over her head.


	8. Awkward

Awkward

By

Angelina

**Awkward Moment 1: Superboy**

**Rated: K+**

Robin was walking down the halls of Mount Justice heading for the gym. Batman had left him there to stay the night while he was in Germany tracking down some jewel thieves. Robin was a little put out at being dropped off at the mountain but he was also happy to see his friends. Right now, however, none of his friends were around.

Megan, Wally, Conner, and Kaldur had gone to the mall. Artemis was having a serious case of PMS and was in her room with a box of chocolate. So Robin had the mountain to himself, he sighed, vaguely noting how quiet the mountain was. At least in the Batcave they had the twittering of bats as background noise, this place was just eerie.

Robin was wrapped up in his musings so much so that he almost walked into the broad Superman symbol on Superboy's shirt. He stopped short and craned his head back to see the clone's face. "Hey Conner, I didn't realize that you were back."

The clone didn't respond, instead his attention was on a small, plastic wrapped tube in his hand.

"Watcha got there Supey?" Robin asked.

Conner held it out to him and, to the little bird's horror, the Robin realized that it was a tampon. "Where'd you get that?"

"Artemis dropped it… What is it?"

The colour drained from Robin's face. He was not explaining this to Conner! "Umm…" He subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck. "Why don't you go ask Kaldur?"

"I already asked Kaldur and he told me to ask Wally and Wally wouldn't tell me. I even asked Megan and she didn't know. So I came to you. What is it?"

"Uhh…" Robin really didn't know what to do.

"Oh look, is that a unicorn?" Robin said excitedly as he pointed to somewhere behind Conner.

"Unicorns don't exist." Conner said matter-of-factly.

"Ugg! Alright Supey, you asked for it." He stopped to think how he should phrase this. "Do you know what a girl's… uh …period… is?" Robin stumbled over the word period.

Conner thought for a moment, a period sounded vaguely familiar. Suddenly the knowledge that Cadmus had planted into his brain came back. With a horrified yelp Superboy dropped the tampon and looked at Robin with wide eyes. "Nevermind." He said quickly. He turned on his heel and practically sprinted down the hallway.

"Well that went better than I thought it would." Robin muttered. He eyed the tampon before gingerly stepping over it and continued on to the gym.

**Awkward Moment 2: Megan**

**Rated: K+**

It was laundry day at Mount Justice.

Robin was in the wash room meticulously pressing his vest. Alfred had drilled the 'no wrinkle' method into him since he first came to live with Bruce and no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't live with wrinkles on his freshly cleaned clothing.

Megan was by the dryer, taking out the dry clothes and transferring over her wet ones. She paused when her hand came to rest on a hot pink bra with lime green poke-a-dots on it.

Robin smirked at the expression on the Martian's face.

"What's this?"

His smirk quickly disappeared. "It's a bra."

Megan put the bra on her head and used it as a hat. "What is the function of this bra?"

"Uh…" Why was he always the one to have to explain these things? "It's an undergarment."

Megan blushed as she took it off of her head. "But, where does it go?"

Robin's mouth opened and closed a few times before he could get sound to come out. "Why don't you ask Artemis?" he finally managed.

Just then Wally zipped in to the laundry room with his hamper of dirty clothes, the awful stench of his old socks and used underwear wafting through the room.

Robin looked up at the unsavory smell and glared at Wally. But the speedster was not looking at Robin; instead his attention was occupied by the bra that Megan was holding.

"Is that Arty's?" He asked sweetly.

The martian blushed and shrugged her shoulders. Wally gave a mischievous chuckle as he snatched the bra from her hands. He waved it above his head and ran out of the laundry. "Arty-Farty! Look what I have!"

Megan and Robin could hear Wally zipping down the as a door banged open.

"Wallace West! GIVE ME BACK MY BRA!"

"Come and get it blondie!"

"WALLY!"

Robin shook his head and left the laundry room. He could always finish pressing his clothes later; right now he just wanted to get out of the firing range.

**Awkward Moment 3: Kaldur**

**Rated: K**

It was nearing five-thirty in the morning and Robin was still up. The sound of his keystrokes a dull murmur in the deathly quiet of the mountain.

Kaldur wandered out of his room, hoping to hit the pool before his teammates woke up.

Robin shut down his computer and walked to the kitchen. It was about time that he got some breakfast, after all, he only had half an hour until he would need to start training. He stifled a yawn as he grabbed for a box of Go-Lean and poured himself a bowl. He began to hum absent-mindedly to himself. After a few minutes his humming turned into soft singing and then morphed in to an all-out solo.

Kaldur detoured from his path to the pool when he heard singing coming from the kitchen.

"When the working day is done

Girls - they want to have fun."

The words were faint and Kaldur had a hard time making them out, but he could have sworn that it was Robin singing.

"Oh girls just want to have fun." The sixth sense that Batman had instilled in Robin kicked in and he was aware that he was about to get an unwelcome audience. He quickly shut up, put the spoon that he was using as a microphone down, and shoveled some dry cereal into his mouth. He had forgotten to add the milk.

Kaldur peeked around the corner to see Robin leaning against the counter eating dry cereal. They had an awkward stare down for a minute until Kaldur blinked and walked away.

Robin was a conundrum that he feared would never be solved.

**Awkward Moment 4: Wally**

**Rated: T**

Conner, Megan, and Kaldur were out grocery shopping; Artemis was studying for midterms, and KF wasn't supposed to arrive at Mount Justice for another two hours. So Robin decided that he would indulge in one of his favourite pastimes.

He glanced around the halls to make sure that no one was around before he crept to the bathroom with a gym bag in hand.

Once he was in the bathroom he shut the door silently behind him and began running the water in the bathtub, waiting for it to warm up. **(1)** While he waited on the water, he began to pull different items out of his bag. First was a big, white, fluffy towel that was a soft as fleece. Next he would pull out a bottle of strawberry scented shampoo, just like the one his mother had used. Then a bottle of lavender scented bubble bath and a blue robe that Bruce had bought him last Christmas (blue to match his eyes).

By now the water was warm and Robin quickly plugged the stopper into the tub. He poured a generous amount of the bubble bath under the running water and watched as the bubbles grew in size.

While he waited for the tub to fill he went back to his bag and pulled out the last item. A small rubber ducky, painted to look like Batman emerged from the bag.

It had been a gift from Bruce, who had started the whole bubble baths with rubber ducks addiction for Dick. Robin smiled and squeezed his Batduck, cackling when it squeaked.

He shut the water off and discarded his clothing. He felt a little cold standing there naked, so he quickly stepped into the bath and sat down. Robin sighed as his muscles began to relax, leaning back to rest his head against the head rest. He slipped down until his chin grazed the water. After several minutes of soaking he grabbed the rubber ducky that was floating in the tub and squeaked it. He giggled and began to sing the song that he had stumbled upon Bruce singing one day.

"Rubber Ducky you're the one.

You make the bath lots of fun.

Rubber Ducky of you."

His singing was loud enough to obscure the arrival of Kid Flash.

As Wally looked around the deserted common room he heard the sounds of singing and squeaking coming from the bathrooms. Curios he followed the sound.

"Rubber ducky joy of joys.

When I squeeze you make noise.

Rubber ducky your best friend, it's true."

Wally clapped a hand over his mouth to stop his laughter. He had never before heard the little bird sing, and who would guess that he would be singing the Rubber Ducky song? Wally quickly whipped his cell phone out of his pocket and turned on the video.

"Rubber ducky you're so fine."

He inched the door open as quietly as he could, being sure to stick the camera at an angle that would catch the little birdy in action.

"And I'm lucky that your mine.

Rubber duck, I am awfully fond of.

Rubber ducky, wish I had a whole pond of.

Rubber ducky I am awfully fooonnnndd of EEK!"

Robin gave a very girly scream when he spotted Wally. The speedster was standing in the halfway open door with his phone out, taking a video. The Boy Wonder quickly moved as many bubbles as he could to hide himself and screamed some unintelligible curses at the speedster.

Wally smirked and turned off his camera. He had just acquired a very good piece of blackmail for the future... that's if he decided not to put it up on Youtube. Right now he couldn't decide which one amused him more.

**(1)The water at our house takes forever to warm up. One of the disadvantages to living in the country…**

**This was inspired by 'Bat's and Bubbles' by ArellaoftheLuvara**

**Which in turn inspired me to create Batman and Robin rubber duckies :D **

**Link to my ducks: http:/ goldenagegirl. deviantart. com/ gallery/ #/ d4324xz (spaces removed)**

**Yes, I know I'm a nerd/geek/dork/dweeb, my brothers have informed me of this multiple times…**

**Awkward Moment 5: Artemis**

**Rated: K+**

Robin was enjoying a peaceful afternoon at Mount Justice. Currently he was lounging in the common room working on a new program for his holographic computer. All was quiet until: "WALLY!"

"Oy." Robin groaned and rubbed his temples, he was not in the mood for a cranky archer or a hyper speedster right now.

"I am going to KILL you Wallace!"

"You can't catch me! You can't catch me." The sing-song voice of Wally floated through the mountain as sounds of running came down the hallway.

"Give it back Kid Idiot!"

Robin sighed; maybe his room would be less noisy? He got up and shut down his computer. He was rounding the corner of the hallway when Wally sped up to him. He was clutching several of Artemis' arrows in his hand and had a rather mischievous look on his face, though that seemed to be his normal expression.

"You're going to put someone's eye out running with those." Robin observed as the speedster waved the arrows in his face. "And I hope it's yours."

At that moment Artemis appeared around the bend.

"Give them back!" she yelled charging the speedster like an enraged rhino.

Wally was attempting to hide behind Robin but the little bird's small stature made it nearly impossible. Right before the archer reached him Wally shoved the acrobat at her. Robin gave a cry of surprise which was quickly muffled as he got a face-full of archer.

The two fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs. When they had stopped moving Robin realized that he had landed on top of the blonde archer with his nose right between Artemis' breasts. He gulped and slowly lifted his head, turning a bright shade of red when he saw Artemis glaring at him.

"PERVERT!" she shrieked as she threw Robin off of her and ran after Wally.

Robin groaned, why him? Why was it always him?

**A/N Ok so some of them were awkward and others were humorous. I couldn't figure out what to do for the Kaldur one… :D**

**Should I do a humorous or a Robin torture for the next update?**


	9. Another Mess

Another Mess

By

Angelina

**Rated: T for violence and description of injury**

**Robin's POV**

This is not whelming, not whelming at all. Sure, I knew that we all ran the risk of this when we signed up to be heroes, when we signed on to this team. But that doesn't mean I'm ready to face it. Honestly, I don't think that anyone would be able to face it. But I guess that's the thing about death, it's so unknown and so final that you can't help but be afraid by it.

And as I find myself in a tank that's slowly filling with water I know that I can't escape it. This time my team, Batman, won't be fast enough. This time I will die. And though the thought fills me with fear I am resigned to it. I have to die to save the others.

But let me back up a bit, you probably want to know what got me here. Or even where here is, I think I'm in New York, but I'm not sure.

I guess it all started when Batman told us to investigate a new lab that Cadmus was setting up:

Batman had obtained information on a new project that Cadmus was starting (no one knew exactly how he knew, but then again, no one ever does… even me). Apparently the company was testing and perfecting a new bio-toxin that would be revolutionary in the world of assassination and in world-wide domination. The toxin was an airborne neural-toxin that was similar to nerve gas but was just as deadly, and much less costly to make. It could kill a person in less than twenty seconds. And the fact that it could be so easily mass-produced and released over wide areas, it could easily be used to hold a whole city hostage. And beyond that it had the capability to be adapted for other forms of release, such as contaminating a water source, find its way into a pot of coffee, or even a powder that could be laced into almost anything. The toxin was colourless, tasteless, and gave off no smell. And it disappeared from a person's system in under an hour. The formula, though, was a mystery that Cadmus was keeping under wraps. In other words: this was a disaster, heavy on the dis.

But the glitch was that Cadmus was hiding it behind a child's pharmaceutical company, which was also attempting to develop a cure for leukemia. The League couldn't touch it without serious media fallout. So we were called in, the covert team.

It was a risky mission. Kid Flash and I had gone undercover within in the lab. KF had been done up to look like he was in his thirties and was posing as one of the research scientists. I ended up as a female lab tech; I was so not feeling the aster. Supey and Kaldur were nearby in case we needed a quick escape, and Miss M. was keeping an eye on us in camouflage mode.

But none of that had mattered when Lex Luthor decided to show his ugly face. We hadn't even known that he had thrown his lot in with Cadmus, for all we knew he was still bent on destroying Superman and then world domination. Apparently Luthor was the buying up most of the supplies of the toxin, while passing off his purchase as a sizable donation to the leukemia research. I would call him what he is, but Batman says that I'm not allowed to use that word.

I had just finished downloading the information that would bring the operation down when Mercy found me. Stupid robot; she saw straight through my disguise and before I even had time to reach for a bird-a-rang I found three tranquilizer darts sticking out me. I managed to hit send before I passed out, but I didn't know if the information had made it through.

When I woke up Luthor was there. He went through the whole standard villain monologue about what he was planning to do with the toxin and what he had planned for me. Honestly, I really wasn't listening. Instead I let him talk his bald head off while I attempted to escape, and contact my team.

But of course he was jamming all of my electronics. He also had me in some pretty serious chains and he had taken away my utility belt. I wasn't going anywhere.

After he was done talking he let Mercy beat me while he stood to the side, looking infinitely bored. That son of a half troll! (I really must talk to Batman about letting me curse…)

By the time the robot was done with me I had a broken arm, several broken ribs, a few cracked ones, a bruised sternum, a severe concussion, and I think a fractured pelvis but I couldn't quite tell through all the pain.

Finally Mercy was done. I vaguely registered that Lex was now squatting by my side. He grabbed me by my hair and tugged my face up until he could look me in my masked eyes.

"My, my Robin. What are you doing so far from your nest?"

I glared daggers at him.

"Batman really should have kept a better eye on you. Too bad he won't get to make that mistake again."

"My team…" I stopped to gasp as pain tore through my damaged chest. "My team will... stop you!"

"I do hope so Robin. What's the fun of a trap if the others don't play their part?"

My eyes went wide as I realized the implications of his statement. He laughed when he saw my recognition. I spat blood in his face. "Go to-"

"Language." He reminded me as he wiped my blood off his face. "Now Robin, I need you to deliver a little message to the Justice League for me. Do you think you can do that?"

I tried my best to give him the Bat-glare but I knew it was failing when he simply gave me that twisted smile of his. He dropped my head and stood up, moving behind my range of vision. I heard a door open. "You know what to do Mercy." The door shut and I vaguely heard the sound of receding footsteps.

Iron hands grabbed me by my torso and turned me on my back. My vest was ripped off and lay in shreds on other side of me. Suddenly my chest burned like hell. I bit back the scream that wanted so badly to escape my lips. Something was cutting into me, carving shallow shapes into my chest.

I whimpered as Mercy continued to cut me with the knife, my body was on fire. I was in so much pain, but I knew I couldn't show it. I knew that I had to be brave, despite how much I wanted to curl up in a ball and call for Batman.

Finally the robot was done. But before I could breathe a sigh of relief I felt her grab me under my arms and drag me over to something that I couldn't see. The next thing I knew I was flying through the air and then crashing into the hard ground. I lay in pain for a few minutes. The ground beneath me was cold and was soothing to the fire that my body was engulfed in. But the feeling didn't last long. Water was lapping at my sides; I could hear it rushing into the space I occupied. I looked up and realized that I was in a tank of some kind, a tank that was quickly filling with water.

And that's how I got myself into this mess. As you can see, I know I won't be getting out of it. I had told Megan that I was in a trap, I told her to let me die. I knew I had to if the others were going to live and stop this new toxin from being made.

The water was a few inches from the top. I took my last breath of air and slowly drifted toward the bottom. In simulations with Batman I could hold my breath for up to three and a half minutes. But this wasn't a simulation, this was all too real. I chuckled and watched as bubbles rose from my mouth. I never thought I would go out like this. But at least my death would prevent the death of the teammates and friends that I had come to love as family.

I only wished that I could see Batman one last time. That I could tell Bruce how much I loved him. I wish I could tell him that I considered him my father, but now I would never get that chance. Life is cruel, but there was never any question about that.

That was my last conscious thought.

**Batman's POV**

I had been monitoring the mission as Bruce Wayne. I knew that I shouldn't have; after all, it was Richard's mission, not mine. But I couldn't help myself; I had to keep an eye on the boy who had come to mean so much to me.

I had scheduled an appointment to tour the pharmaceutical company under the pretenses that I wanted to donate to their efforts for finding a cure for leukemia, of course. Bruce was a rich playboy; no one would have been the wiser that he was here for another reason.

I saw Richard walk by once, but I made sure that he didn't see me. Though I would never admit it, he looked good as a girl. God, he would kill me if he ever found out I had thought that.

The mission seemed that it was going well, until I saw Lex Luthor walk through the doors. Then I knew that something was amiss. None of the intelligence I had gathered suggested that Luthor was involved with this. If I had known than I never would have sent Richard - I mean Young Justice - in to investigate this.

But it was too late to pull them back now.

I excused myself under the pretenses that I was needed back in Gotham and quickly changed into my true self; the feared Batman.

Not five minutes later Alfred came over my secure line telling me that he had received the information that would bring the company down. I breathed a sigh of relief, they had completed the mission, I could get Robin - I mean the team- out of here.

I quickly brought up their com links and sent the message out. Twenty minutes later I watched as everyone approached Miss Martian's bio-ship, everyone except Robin. My heart sped up as I approached the group. They gasped when I seemingly appeared out of nowhere next to them.

After several minutes of interrogation – I mean questioning – I concluded that no one had seen him in at least an hour. They had all thought that he got out of there as soon as he sent the information he had hacked. I would be severely punishing them for that assumption later, but right now I needed to find out where Robin was.

Within a few minutes Miss Martian had located Robin, but she nearly fainted when she felt the extreme agony he was going through. She tried to question him but he told her to stay away, told her that it was a trap, he told her to let him die.

When she said that I could no longer think straight, it took all of my strength not to kill the unfortunate Martian. I had dissappeared before the team's protests could find their way to the teen's lips.

I quickly found where Miss Martian said Robin was. The trap was easy to dismantle. It was a simple bomb that Joker had tried to use on me once. I was amazed that Luthor would use such a simple device, but then again he had thought he was dealing with teenagers, not the Batman.

Once the bomb was dismantled I was running over to where I saw some of Robin's vest sticking out around a box. But when I got there I only found the remaining tatters of what had once been his vest. And blood, Robin's blood, Richard's blood. The sickening crimson was pooled on the ground and smeared over several cruel chains.

I took a deep breath; Robin was relying on me to keep my head. I couldn't let panic set in now. Then I noticed a beeping noise across the room. I dashed over to find a small computer and what looked like a large tank, probably used for storing the toxin that they were creating. A notice on the computer read: Tank full. It kept flashing across the screen. I don't know what gave me the idea; call it all the years of being a crimefighter, or maybe even a father's intuition, but something told me to open the tank. I quickly by-passed the security and, with a few deft keystrokes, gave the command for the tank to open.

My heart skipped a beat when the lid withdrew enough for me to see Robin resting the bottom of it, not moving. Without any hesitation I dove into the tank, not even pausing to check what the liquid was that filled it.

The water around Robin was turning a sickly shade of scarlet. I wrapped a strong arm around his small torso and kicked out for the surface. As soon as we broke the surface I was swimming for the side, being sure to keep Robin's head above water. I quickly pushed the boy's body up onto the hard floor above and then pulled my own sopping body out of the tank.

I ripped the glove off of my right hand and placed two fingers over the vein on his neck, bending over to place my ear near his mouth. The boy wasn't breathing and my heart nearly stopped when I realized that Robin's had.

I placed both of my hands over the boy's small chest and began compressions, pausing after thirty to breathe for him.

I checked for a pulse, there wasn't one.

I went again, counting out thirty compressions before breathing for him. Again there was no pulse.

I started again. Someone was shouting the little bird's name and it took me a few seconds to realize that it was me.

Again there was no life beneath my fingers.

It couldn't end this way, it just couldn't. I hadn't got to tell him how much I enjoyed having him in my life. I hadn't got to tell him how much he meant to me. I hadn't told him that I loved him. I hadn't called him my son. Son, oh God, I couldn't let my son die, like I had my parents.

I started again, I wasn't going to stop until my boy came back or someone dragged me off of his body.

At compression seventeen I heard a sick squelching noise and then coughing. Quickly I turned Robin on his side, rubbing circles in his back as he coughed up a mixture of water, bile, and blood.

When he was done I turned him back over onto his back, supporting his head as he gasped for breath. Only then did I notice that his chest had been severely cut. Words had been carved into the space with a serrated knife, deep enough to leave permanent scaring.

_For Batman_, the words read.

I couldn't take my eyes off those words, cruelly etched forever into Robin's chest. I gasped, they had meant to kill my little bird, only for the League, me, to find that message scrawled across his small chest. Luthor had wanted to send a ripple through the Justice League that would have thrown us all off our game. And he would have succeeded if I had been but a moment later. Pure rage burned inside my chest: I would avenge this. There was no doubt in my mind about that.

But right now my boy needed me.

I wrapped my arms around Robin – Richard-, cradling the small boy to my chest. One solitary tear left my eye before I managed to gain control of myself. The Batman did not cry.

He was calling for me now and I held him closer, shushing him, promising him that he was alright, that I had him and wouldn't let go.

He twisted in my arms until he could look into my eyes, the hidden blue of his boring into the masked darkness of mine.

I made my eyes convey everything that I was feeling, everything that I could not put into words, to the precious boy in my arms. _I love you, Richard… I love you, son._

And in his I saw my love equally reflected. _I love you too, dad._

We both smiled. Too bad it had taken him dying for me to realize how much I loved him.

**A/N I know this probably isn't Luthor's style but I couldn't come up with another villain to fit the situation so I used him. **

**This is for everyone who was nice enough to review and request the Robin torture and DaddyBats. **

**Thank you to all my wonderful readers and reviewers :D I write this stuff for you!**

**I kind of like the method I used for selecting what this chapter was going to be about. So, from now on I will have a choice between two genres for the next story in the ending author notes for you guys to chose from, that is if you would like that... Let me know what you think :) **


	10. Camping Trip

Camping Trip: Take 1

By

Angelina

**Rated: K+**

"What is camping?" Conner asked as he, Kaldur, Wally, and Robin watched Megan's bio-ship disappear from view. The League had decided that the boys needed more bonding time so the four had been dropped off in the middle of a huge forest with a tent, sleeping bags, a change of clothes, and food enough to last two days.

"You'll see." Wally said as he dumped all of their supplies and backpacks into the clone's arms.

The clone glared at the speedster. "Why do I have to carry everything?"

"Because you have super-strength Supey." Robin clapped Superboy on the back and cackled as he flipped over the laden clone's head to stand next to Wally. The two bro-fisted each other and walked off laughing as Conner tried to use his heat vision.

Four miles later they arrived at the campsite and Superboy dropped all of the stuff underneath a large apple tree.

"Must have been an old apple orchard at some point in time." Robin observed as he noticed that this particular spot was surrounded by the fruit-bearing trees.

"I think it would be wise to set up camp." Kaldur commented as he began unpacking things.

Conner shrugged and began digging a small pit for the fire. Wally mumbled something about inventory before he started to take apart the food supplies.

Robin was having a difficult time removing the tent from its package and setting it up.

"Need any help Robin?" Kaldur asked the little bird.

"Nope, I've got this. Why don't you guys find some wood for the fire?"

Kaldur shrugged and grabbed Wally by the ear, propelling him away from their food supply, which the speedster had been raiding.

"Owowow! Let go fish-boy! I was only taking inventory!" The sounds of Wally's protests were soon lost in the forest as he and Kaldur got further from their small camp.

"Conner?" the clone looked up at the little bird. "I saw a stream about a quarter mile back, why don't you wash these out." Robin held out some pots, pans, and plates to the clone. Superboy gave him a 'don't tell me what to do' look before he angrily snatched the stuff from Robin's arms and stormed off in search of the stream.

Robin shrugged and went back to figuring out how to put the tent together, the instructions fluttering away in the breeze, completely ignored.

Fifteen minutes later Kaldur, Wally, and Conner returned to the campsite to find it empty. "Where did Rob go?" The speedster wondered aloud as he dumped his arm load of wood.

As soon as Wally spoke the three teens heard muffled shouting and looked over to see Robin's feet sticking out of a twisted mess of tent. Ten minutes later they finally managed to extract the little bird from the mass of fabric.

"Thanks guys."

After they were sure that Robin was okay Wally punched the little bird in the arm. "Sure you don't need help."

Robin frowned at his sarcasm. "Maybe you can do better?"

"You know I can."

Kaldur and Conner sighed and left the two to their argument.

Ten minutes later they heard a loud snap and Robin's eerie cackles. Kaldur rushed over to see Wally wrapped up in the tent. He sighed and helped Robin extract the speedster from the mess of fabric. "I think that is enough with the tent for the time being."

Both boys nodded and followed their leader over to where Conner was having a very unsuccessful time lighting their campfire.

Robin quickly stacked the wood in a chimney formation and stuffed some kindling in the gaps. He then pulled a lighter from his utility belt and lit the stack of wood. After a minute of feeble flickering the flame caught and they were left with a large campfire.

By the time the fire was lit it was already dusk.

Wally had dinner simmering in a pan over the fire; Robin was climbing the large apple tree, looking for a good place to hang their food; and Conner and Kaldur were attempting to set the tent up. The two older teens were having a slightly better time with the tent than Robin and Wally had but they were still confused as to where all the poles should go. They had finally managed to rig up a passable shelter when Wally announced that dinner was ready.

Dinner consisted of hotdogs and baked beans. Kaldur ate a hotdog but passed on the unsavory looking beans. Robin barely ate anything while Wally and Conner downed most of the hotdogs and all of the beans.

"Who's up for some s'mores?" Wally hollered as he pulled a large bag of marshmallows out of the bag of food. He tossed the bag to Robin and dug around the bag before withdrawing some graham crackers and a box of chocolate bars with a triumphant look on his face.

"What is a so more?" Kaldur asked as he eyed the fluffy white glob that Robin was shoving on a stick.

The triumphant look on Wally's face fell with Kaldur's question. "How can you not know what a s'more is?"

Wally then went a long and detailed explanation of what a s'more was and how wonderful they were. By the time he was done Robin had showed Conner and Kaldur how to make them and the three teens had finished cooking and eating the s'mores.

Wally huffed indignantly when he realized that they hadn't been paying attention to him.

Once Wally had consumed the entire bag of marshmallows, all of the chocolate bars, and the box of graham crackers the teen decided that it was time to tell ghost stories.

His tale was rather lame and he was soon interrupted by Robin, "Anyone want to hear about the time that the Joker nearly killed Batman?"

Kaldur and Conner nodded eagerly and leaned in closer to the smaller boy. Wally huffed at again being ignored but didn't say anything as he desperately wanted to hear the tale.

After Robin was finished with his story the four began to swap tales about various villains they fought, or least everyone but Conner did. The poor clone had only been alive for a little over a year and as such, did not have any tales to tell that the others hadn't experienced with him. But he did enjoy listening; he enjoyed hearing of the struggles and triumphs of his teammates and friends. During the tales he reflected again on how lucky he was to have found them, his family.

The tales of valour, bravery, cleverness, and in Wally's case: stupidity went well past midnight.

"As much as I have enjoyed this night it is late and we need to be going to bed." Kaldur pulled Wally up and towards the tent while Superboy attempted to get ahold of a squirming ninja.

Thirty minutes later everyone was settled into their sleeping bags. Wally was by the farthest wall with Robin next to him. Conner was lying next to Robin and on the other side of the clone Kaldur had curled up for the night. Everything was silent and peaceful until Wally broke wind loudly. The stench quickly filled the small tent.

"Wally!" Three very indignant shouts were directed at the blushing red-head.

"What makes you think it was me?" Wally tried to look innocent but failed miserably.

"You ate all the beans didn't you?" Robin was unfortunately well versed in what happens when you feed the gluttonous speedster certain foods.

"…Maybe…"

"Can he sleep outside?" Conner asked, pinching his nose closed.

"Another one like that and he is most welcome to sleep in the tree!" Robin agreed.

"Hey, I can't help it."

"Can we just go to sleep?" Kaldur was trying to make peace, as usual.

"Fine." Robin muttered.

"Whatever." Kid Flash mumbled.

"Skunk bottom."

"I heard that!"

"You were supposed to!"

"GOODNIGHT!" Kaldur sounded annoyed.

Robin and Wally immediately shut up.

Half an hour later Kaldur was crushed up against the side of the tent. Superboy was pressed up as close to the Atlantian as possible. And Robin was lying on top of the two older boys. They were all trying to get as far away from Wally and his stench as possible.

Finally everyone managed to get to sleep.

Only to be woken up two hours later by a loud noise in the tree directly above them.

"What was that?" Kid Flash asked as he joined the superhero sandwich.

"Mmph… umph… mmmm…."

"What" Wally could not make out what the person was saying, or even who was talking. He yelped when he felt a pain in his side that felt like teeth.

"I said: I don't know." Robin glared at the speedster as he struggled out from under his friend.

"Did you just bite me?"

Robin gave the speedster a calculated look that said 'yes I did, but good luck trying to prove it.'

The four heroes cautiously peered out of the tent to see a Grizzly cub in the apple tree above their tent, helping itself to the apples.

"It is quite cute!" Kaldur looked like he had just seen a fluffy kitten for the first time.

"That ain't cute, bro. That's called death with fur and teeth." Wally said as he inched back into the tent.

"I'll get it." With a roar Superboy launched himself at the bear.

"No Supey don't beat-"

Superboy quickly beat up the bear and hurled the unconscious cub across the camp to lie next to the cold fire.

"-it up." Robin finished.

"Why not?" Conner asked with a scowl.

"Because dude, that was the baby which means the mama can't be far behind." Wally looked apprehensive as he eyed the still form of the cub.

As if to prove Wally's statement a loud _ROAR_ echoed through the forest. Wally was shaking, his knees nocking together audibly. "Oh crap! Ohcrapohcrapohcrap! Thisisnotgood! We'reallgoingtodie!" He sped over to Robin and attempted to hide behind the small bird, failing miserably.

"Wally! Calm yourself!" Kaldur barked out.

_ROAR_

Standing just outside the tent they had occupied only minutes before was a full grown grizzly bear, standing on its hind legs and casting its shadow over them.

All of the colour in Wally's body drained until he resembled a ghost. He was about to faint when Robin slapped him hard in the face.

Wally gave a girly, high pitched scream, picked Robin up bridal-style, and began tearing through the forest at super-speed.

"If this thing is half as bad as Batman when you injure Robin than I do not think that you wish to face it." Kaldur stated as he turned to flee.

One last look at the charging Grizzly bear set Conner into his own super-speed mode and he quickly overtook Kaldur, grabbing the Atlantian and hurling him over his shoulder. A few minutes later Conner found Robin and Wally near a small waterfall.

"That was so scary!" Wally panted.

Conner nodded. He now understood why Kid Flash compared DaddyBats to a mother bear.

"Where are we?" Kaldur inquired ever the practical one.

"No clue." Robin said when everyone turned to him. "The map and compass are back at the camp with the rest of our supplies."

"What about your computer?"

"Batman made me leave all of my electronics. He said I wouldn't need them." Robin grumbled.

"Great, we're in the middle of the forest with no supplies, no map, no compass, no shelter, and no food!" Wall threw his hands up.

"At least it can't get any worse." Kaldur pointed out.

Just then it started to pour. The rain fell through the trees and soaked the teens in minutes.

"Now it can't get any worse." Wally pointed at.

And a strike of lightning hit a tree just inches away from Robin's head. The tree was split in two and came crashing down. Conner threw himself in between the tree and his friends, grunting when it hit him and rolled off his back leaving the others unharmed.

"Ok, it got worse." Wally said sheepishly.

Golf ball sized hail began to drop from the sky. Conner quickly covered Robin while Kaldur created a protective shield over Wally.

"Ok, it's wor-" Kaldur clamped a hand over the speedster's mouth.

"I think now would be a good time to stop talking." The leader pointed out wisely.

"Forget this!" Robin exclaimed after an hour of unrelenting hail and rain. He brought out his utility belt and pushed a small red button on the inside of one of the pouches.

"What's that?" Wally asked as he heard a soft beeping.

"Emergency beacon."

"You had that this whole time and didn't use it?"

"It's for emergencies only Kid Mouth, emergencies as in 'I've been shot' or the 'Joker is attacking my school.' Not 'I'm lost in the forest.'"

"Oh."

Batman was startled when the emergency beacon in his belt went off. He immediately knew that Robin was in trouble. The Dark Knight swept out of the useless Justice League briefing that he was in. After all Lex Luthor had only stolen more Kryptonite and was planning to use it against Superman. Big deal, happened at least once a week. You think the Superman would stop calling in the League all the time and just deal with it himself. Or, better yet, die a slow and painful death (he was worried for his kid; he didn't really want Superman to die). Right now though, his little bird needed him.

He quickly sent the Batwing out while running the possible scenarios through his head. Joker could have found the Boy Wonder, he could be torturing him. A rockslide could have injured him. Maybe a flash flood had struck. Or a bear could have mauled him. He had to struggle to keep his thoughts on finding his protégé and not on all the things that could have gone wrong.

Batman arrived at the place where the GPS indicated that Robin was. He was surprised to see that Robin was 40 miles away from the designated camp spot.

The forest here was dense so he set the plane to hover and dropped in on a ladder.

Batman found the four teens huddled in a small group, shivering and looking relieved to see him. Though with the way there were positioned he couldn't see his little bird.

"Where's Robin?" He growled.

Conner and Kaldur parted slightly so Batman could get to Robin, who was shivering violently, his teeth chattering. The three had surrounded him in a human (and Kryptonian, and Atlantian) cocoon in the hopes of keeping the little bird warm.

Batman breathed a sigh of relief to see that Robin was in fact fine. Very wet and cold, but fine; though he would probably have a bad cold tomorrow.

Batman opened his cape and Robin quickly scrambled underneath it, seeking the warmth of his mentor. The older vigilante felt a small smile tug at his lips, but he was sure to deepen his scowl so that no one would see it. "Let's get you home."

Robin sneezed in response.

"Hey! What about us?" Wally called as Batman walked off, leaving them behind.

"Miss Martian should be here in an hour. Be sure to pack up your camp before you leave."

He left a very indignant speedster, an angry clone, and an annoyed Atlantian behind as he ascended to the plane.

Once inside Batman wrapped his protégé in several blankets and then buckled him in. He would lecture him in the proper use of the emergency beacon later but right now he was just glad that Robin was alright.

The plane ride home was filled with Robin's story of the failed camping trip.

"And in some odd way we all ended up bonding." Robin explained to Batman as the hero half dragged, half carried his exhausted son to bed.

"Camping wasn't so bad then?"

Robin glared at his mentor.

The older hero's lips quirked up in an amused smile that would have been helpless laughter for anyone else.

**A/N So I'm not too happy with the writing in this chapter but I really loved the idea :D**

**This was based off a camping trip that my family took when I was six. My father couldn't put the tent together, my mum burnt our dinner, and the twins caught the bag of marshmallows on fire. Later that night we woke up to a black bear in the apple tree directly above our tent. About a minute after we all ran out of the tent screaming the branch broke and the bear fell into our tent. Then the mom of the bear came and dragged off the food supply that had been hanging from the branch that broke. We were left in the rain with a broken tent and all of our food gone. We haven't been camping since. **

**This is what happens when I stay up late :P**

**Would you guys rather see hurt/comfort or drabble for the next story?**


	11. Flu Season

Flu Season

By

Angelina

**Rated: K+ **

Robin was returning from a hard week's patrol in Gotham. The Riddler had broken out of Arkham and he and Batman had spent better part of a week putting him back. As a result, Robin had gotten absolutely no sleep in at least three days and he couldn't remember the last time he ate. And of course Black Canary would choose the morning after his grueling week to schedule an early for training session, just for him.

Robin was exhausted and wanted nothing other ten to curl up in a ball and fall asleep, but he couldn't complain because he had promised Batman that he could handle both being on the team and continuing with normal patrols. So without further argument Robin stepped into the zeta beam and found himself a brief moment later at Mount Justice.

But instead of being greeted by Black Canary, a rather sleepy looking Aqualad came up to him.

"Black Canary wished me to inform you that she is cancelling training for today."

Robin gave the leader a blank stare before mumbling an acknowledgement. He couldn't believe that he had come in just to find out that training was cancelled. Robin considered going back to the Manor to get some sleep but decided that it would be less work to utilize the room that was alotted to him in Mount Justice (the one he never really used). So the little bird stalked off to his room to catch up on some much needed shut-eye. But he was stopped halfway down the hall when he heard an awful retching noise emanating from the boy's bathroom. He paused and heard the unmistakable growl of Superboy follow the sick splashing noises.

"You ok in there, Supey?"

There were some more retching noises. "I think I'm going to die, my insides are coming out."

Robin hid a smirk at that thought. He opened the door to find Conner sprawled on the floor in front of the toilet with bile dribbling down his chin. The acrobat immediately shoved his own fatigue to the back of his mind in order to help his friend. He sighed and fetched a washcloth and a thermometer. He ran cool water over the washcloth and wiped the bile off of the clone's face and neck. "Don't worry Conner; you're not going to die. You're just sick, it happens to everyone."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Now open up."

Superboy gave Robin a very confused look.

Robin sighed. "Open your mouth Conner."

The clone complied and Robin stuck the thermometer into his mouth. After two minutes it beeped and Robin pulled it back out. He held it up to the light. "103.5, that's definitely a fever."

Conner gave Robin a slightly frightened look. "Don't worry, you'll be just fine. You just need to sleep this off. Come on."

Robin helped Conner off of the floor and out to the Common Room where he turned the TV to a blank screen, helped the clone lay down on one of the couches, and then covered him with several blankets.

He went to the kitchen to find a cold pack when he bumped into Kaldur. The Atlantian was looking green around the gills (I've been wanting to use that for a while now ;D) and mumbled an apology to the little bird before it was cut off when he retched loudly into the kitchen sink, and all over the dishes.

"Not you to Kaldur." Robin groaned. He grabbed Aqualad's hands and pulled him over to the other couch where he made their leader comfortable. He stuck the thermometer in while he went to fetch the cold packs. "Don't even think of taking that out before I get back."

Kaldur looked embarrassed as he tried to mask his intentions by bringing the hand that was reaching for the thermometer to rest on his forehead.

Robin returned a few minutes later with two cold packs, a metal bucket, and a five gallon industrial bucket. He gave the largest bucket to Conner and the metal one to Kaldur. He then administrated some ibuprofen and Flu medicine. He pulled the thermometer out of Kaldur's mouth. "103. Here drink this." He handed Kaldur a small cup of Flu medicine.

Kaldur made a face as he chugged down the orange fluid. Conner eyed the little cup full of medicine that Robin gave him suspiciously.

"Drink it Supey, it'll make you feel better."

The clone shrugged and poured the liquid into his mouth. He gave a loud gagging noise and sat bolt upright, spraying Robin in the face with the nasty concoction.

Robin groaned as he wiped the sticky medicine off of his face. "Now you have to take it again." He poured some more of the orange liquid onto a spoon and shoved it at Superboy's face. "Come on Conner open up. I promise you will feel better when you take it."

Superboy huffed, crossed his arms defiantly, and stuck his bottom lip out in a pout. He looked, for all the world like a five-year-old. "No."

"Please."

"No."

"For me." Robin batted his eyelashes.

Conner opened his mouth to reply in the negative but before he could force a syllable out Robin had shoved the spoon into his open mouth. Taken completely by surprise Conner swallowed the nasty medicine. He glared at Robin who quickly danced out of his reach.

Robin sat up with both boys as they continued to throw up all day. He would rub soothing circles in Conner's back as the clone retched repeatedly. He stroked Kaldur's short hair as he shivered uncontrollably from the fever. He even told them stories of his adventures in Gotham with the mighty Batman and the dastardly villains that constantly plagued their city.

By late afternoon both were sleeping and Robin breathed a sigh of relief. He continued to sit up with them all night, making sure that they had enough covers or running to get something that one of them requested. While they were sleeping he cleaned up the bathroom, kitchen, and anywhere else they had thrown up.

When dawn finally broke Robin was beyond exhausted. He was on his fourth day without sleep. His week had been filled with school, training, pursuing the Riddler, figuring out riddles, fighting the Riddler, and taking care of Kaldur and Conner. He felt ready to drop at any second.

Conner was the first one up. After spending most of yesterday in utter misery he was feeling miles better. His fever was gone, his chills vanished, and his nausea was just an unpleasant memory. With a groan he stretched, popping the vertebra in his neck, and then walked into the kitchen to scrounge up some breakfast.

When he entered he was greeted with the sight of Robin leaning up against one of the counters looking pale and like he was going to fall asleep on his feet at any second. "You okay Robin?"

The little bird looked up at Superboy as he occupied most of the doorway. "Not feeling the aster." He fell forward with the last word.

With a lurch the clone caught Robin as he collapsed. "Robin?" The boy gave a sleepy murmur before his head lulled limply into Conner's chest. Superboy gently cradled the little bird in his arms, stood slowly, and walked over to the couch, trying not to jostle his precious parcel too much. He set Robin down in the make-shift bed that Conner had recently occupied and pulled the covers up to his chin. Something inside him told him to check to see if the little bird was warm, so he raised a hand to Robin's small forehead. To his surprise he was quite warm.

"Hey Kaldur get over here." Conner said loudly as he chucked a pillow across the room to hit Aqualad in the face.

With all the grace he could muster Kaldur recovered from being hit in the face and bit back the retort that wanted to come to his lips. All thoughts of annoyance, however, were banished from his mind when he saw Robin.

"I think he's sick."

Kaldur grabbed the thermometer and shoved it in Robin's mouth, disappearing in search more blankets. When the device beeped Conner took it out of the acrobat's mouth and read the small figures: 104. He was pretty sure that that was a fever.

A few minutes later Kaldur returned with a stack of blankets. He spread several over the shivering form of Robin. Both the Kryptonian and the Atlantian kept a constant vigil until the little birdie regained consciousness an hour later.

"I am sorry my friend, we did not mean to make you ill." Now that the Atlantian thought of it, this was the first time that he had ever seen the little bird sick.

Robin shook his head dismissively and curled into the covers. "Don't be silly Kal, you can't control something like that. Besides, I haven't slept in four days and I can't remember the last time I ate, something like this was bound to happen. Anyway, I have you guys to make me feel better." A soft and strained version of his signature cackle filled the mountain before the acrobat fell asleep.

Conner and Kaldur took shifts caring for Robin, just as the boy had done for them the previous day. Kaldur would speak in soothing tones as Robin retched and then would tell him stories filled with the wonders of Atlantis to help him sleep. Conner, lacking the social skills to comfort Robin with words, would simply rub circles in his back or stroke the sweat soaked bangs out of the acrobat's eyes.

Their vigil continued far into the night. At half-past midnight Robin's fever finally started to go down and Conner and Kaldur relaxed, allowing themselves some uch needed sleep.

By the time the next morning rolled around, everyone was feeling much better.

It was noon of the following day and the three friends were lounging in the common room. Robin was playing a new video game, Kaldur was reading a book, and Conner was staring blankly at the television screen. Suddenly the computer announced the arrival of Artemis. The blonde archer strode into the common room sneezing up a storm. "Sorry." She mumbled, congestion slurring her voice. "I have a cold."

Kaldur looked in horror at Conner, who looked at Robin, who looked at Artemis before he gave a scream. They all ran out of the mountain as fast as possible.

"What's up with them?" Artemis asked as Red Tornado walked into the room.

"I never know." The robot answered as he continued out.

**A/N This is for everyone who voted for Hurt/Comfort. I hope I did all right with it :D Next installment you guys shan't get a choice in *evil laughter* I do apologize but the next chapter is a special chapter. **


	12. We Will Never Forget

We Will Never Forget

By

Angelina

Story 1:

**Rated: K+**

The Justice League stood tall and proud, the seven founders in the center, their sidekicks standing in front of them. All of them bent their heads as a single American flag was raised high.

Two presidents stood in front of them, both with silent tears in their eyes. Millions gathered in the streets around them. Millions more, across the nation and the world, watched on TV as the flag fluttered silently in the light breeze.

It had been ten years to the day. Ten years since they had watched as a cornerstone of American society crashed down in a cloud of smoke. Ten years since the day that had changed the nation forever.

And as they stood gazing up at a standard that had meant so much throughout all the years, they didn't try to hide the tears that fell unbidden down their faces. They simply stood as one, all united in one thought: We will never forget.

Story 2:

**Rated: T**

A young Bruce Wayne was sitting up in his office, watching the news as he ate his breakfast. It had been a hard night last night on patrol and he was fairly certain that Joker was planning on pulling a stunt today, which is why he was attentively watching the news. His attention however was so absorbed in his soggy cereal that he nearly missed the pretty news anchor report that a plane had struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Bruce watched in horror as the camera zoomed in on the burning tower. _It had to be an accident._

He watched live as another plane struck the South Tower in a ball of flames. The forgotten cereal bowl in his hand clattered to the floor, shattering on the polished green marble tiles. _Oh great God in heaven, it was on purpose. America has been attacked!_ He watched as emergency workers rushed to the scene, as the wounded were carried out.

And then he watched as the South Tower fell, as it crumpled to the ground in a massive cloud of smoke. He was vaguely aware of a woman screaming outside of his office.

He didn't know how long he stared at the wide screen television screen. He just watched as people jumped from the remaining tower. He watched as firefighters, police, rescue workers, and civilians continued to run in to help save their fellow Americans. And then he watched as the North Tower fell to join its twin in a heap of rubble. Smoke, ash, and debris fell in a great cloud over the city.

Bruce Wayne closed his eyes and willed it all to be a dream. But when he opened his eyes again he found that it was an all too real reality. The news anchor was still in shock before reporting that both towers were no more.

Bruce fled his office, running past his crying coworkers and onto the streets of Gotham. He quickly changed into his alter ego, the Batman, and took to the streets. He needed to take his anger out on crime, but there was no crime to be seen. No bank robberies, no kidnappings, no muggings, not even a kid stealing candy from a convenience store. The Joker wasn't even out. The city was absolutely quiet, an unnatural stillness hovering over it. It was if the city was mourning the tragedy that had just occurred.

After hours of wandering the street Batman found himself in the Batcave, he didn't even pause to take off his suit as he ascended to the Manor above.

Alfred was not there to greet him. Instead he found the butler sunk into an armchair in front of the television watching as the falling of the towers was replayed over, and over again.

Batman sank down next to him, pulling his cowl from his face. The news kept blaring streaming in casualties reports, informing the silent duo that another plane had hit the Pentagon and yet another went down in Pennsylvania when it was taken down in a selfless act by its passengers.

Bruce was in shock, utter and complete shock.

He wasn't aware that he had fallen asleep until he woke up hours later, the television off. He pushed off the blanket that Alfred had spread over him and got to his feet.

He paced for hours, yelling at God. Asking him why he would let such a thing happen. Asking why he would let children lose their parents, wives lose their husbands, parents lose their children.

But after a while his thoughts turned to the bravery that countless individuals showed. The countless rescue workers that rushed into the Towers to help out civilians, heedless of their own safety; the countless civilians that helped their co-workers out and then went back into the devil's lair to help more; the passengers of flight 93 who sacrificed themselves so that others might live. Two tears escaped his eyes, one from each, and trailed down his face.

He then realized that true heroism were those individuals who were so scared but rose above and had the courage to help others. Those were the people that deserved to be called heroes. Not because they had a lifetime of training to fight crime or had superpowers, but because in the moment of their greatest fear they set aside all personal interest to help others. They, without thought for themselves, were willing to give it all. They were the true heroes.

Bruce knew that in a million years, with all of his deeds put together, he could never compare to the selfless acts that they showed towards complete strangers.

And for the first time since his parents died Bruce prayed in earnest, he prayed that God would grant him half of the spirit and courage that these heroes had. He promised God that he would live to honour the sacrifices that many had given that day.

And every year after that, on that day, Wayne Manor would sport a single American flag flying high.

Ten years to the day after the attacks Bruce Wayne hoisted the faded flag high above his Manor, watching as it billowed in the breeze.

"Why do you fly the flag every September 11th?" Dick Grayson asked as he climbed onto the roof with his guardian.

And Bruce thought of that day ten years ago, of the sacrifices, of his promise. He smiled as he clapped a hand on Richard's shoulder. "Because I am honoring what it means to be American."

**A/N I was seven on September 11, 2011. I was up early with my mother, Will, and Dan to help paint the family room. We had the news on and heard that the first tower had been hit and we watched live as the plane hit the second tower. I was too young to realize what had happened. I was too young to realize that people had died. I was too young to realize that those who had jumped were going to die. I didn't realize, until the first tower came down. Then I knew that people had died, that the world had changed. **

**This is dedicated to all those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. We will never forget. **


	13. Training

Training

By

Angelina

It was training day at Mount Justice, the day when all of the team's mentors came to train with their sidekicks in a group setting.

Green Arrow had shown up for Artemis, Martian Manhunter for Megan, Flash for Wally, Aquaman for Kaldur, and Batman for Robin. But what had really surprised everyone is when Superman had shown up for Conner.

When the Man of Steel marched grimly into the mountain Robin winked at Batman whose features softened for a second before returning to its expressionless scowl. The two had finally talked Superman into taking responsibility for his son.

The day had gone well, everyone had learned something new and had enjoyed training with their mentors. Though no one except Kaldur would admit it, they had all missed their mentors.

The day had started at 9 a.m. sharp and most were done training by about 5 p.m. They had gone over fighting, agility, strength, endurance, weaponry, and tactics. The teens were exhausted and most of them were ready for a hot shower and a ten hour nap, everyone except Robin.

It was now nearing 10 p.m. and Batman had yet to cease from training. The other heroes and sidekicks had been done for almost five hours now and were all crowded into the doorway, watching as the Dark Knight trained his protégé.

Robin was learning a new move today. It was a triple flip, somersault landing. On his second flip Robin would throw a bird-a-rang and as he was coming up from the somersault landing he would throw another one. He had learned the move in the first hour that they had practiced it but perfecting it was taking a while.

They heroes watched as Robin jumped off of the high platform, turned twice in the air, released a bird-a-rang, turned again, somersaulted when he made impact with the floor, came up and released another bird-a-rang in one fluid motion. One of the bird-a-rangs hit its target but the other flew wide and buried itself at the edge of the target.

"Again." Batman growled.

Robin sighed and performed it again. This time he hesitated to release the last bird-a-rang as he came out of the somersault.

"Again."

Again Robin performed the trick. This time both bird-a-rangs struck the bulls-eyes of their targets but he wobbled on his final landing.

"Again."

It had been going like this for hours now. Somewhere a clock struck ten and Kid Flash groaned as he saw Robin ordered to try again. "When is Batman going to let him stop? Rob's exhausted."

"I don't know Kid." Flash responded as he put a hand on his nephew's shoulder.

They all looked up as Robin hit the mat. He hadn't somersaulted right and had come crashing to the floor. It looked like a painful landing and, with the way his hand momentarily darted to his chest, they were sure that he had bruised several ribs.

Batman stood to the side, not even making a move to help his protégé up. "Again."

"Is this… normal?" Megan asked wide-eyed as she watched Robin tiredly haul himself off of the mat and go again.

"This is abuse." Superboy deduced as he stepped out to stop Robin.

Superman stuck an arm out to stop his clone. "I know it seems cruel Superboy but I learned long ago that it's best to leave Batman to his own devises. Robin will be fine."

Conner eyed the older version of himself skeptically before glancing back at Robin, who was again sprawled on the mat.

"Again."

The clone looked like he wanted to fry Batman with his non-existent heat vision, but he held off when Superman gave his shoulder a not-so gentle squeeze.

Robin performed the trick for another half-an-hour before he finally pulled off every aspect of it perfectly. He stood rigidly tall on the mat without a waver in his taut and tired body, waiting for Batman to tell him do it again.

"Good." Batman nodded. "We're done."

Robin gave a relieved sigh and sank down on the mat. Batman handed him a bottle of water and then helped him to his feet. He gave the boy a cryptic look to which Robin nodded. Apparently some form of conversation had passed between the two because Batman left without another word.

Robin left for the showers and the rest of the team retired to the couches in the common room, devising their plot to steal Robin away from Batman.

Thirty minutes later Robin emerged from the showers clothed in a T-shirt, sweatpants, and his ever-present sunglasses. The shirt wasn't thick enough to hide the bandages that were wrapped around his chest, he had bruised his ribs again.

"Robin, are you ok?" Megan asked as she floated towards him.

"Just fine Miss M., this is nothing compared to the sparring sessions I have with Batman." Robin laughed his signature laugh and flopped onto the empty loveseat.

Wally eyed him. "Dude! What the heck was that?"

Robin gave him a weird look. "What was what?"

"Batman, he was out of line. Does he always train you to exhaustion, or does he hit you as well?" The speedster sounded outraged.

Robin gave Kid Flash his own frightening version of the Bat-glare. "None of your business Kid Mouth."

"We are only worried for you Robin." Megan cut in.

Robin looked around at the worried faces of his team. "You guys don't get it do you?"

"Get what?" Conner spoke for the first time.

"Batman trains me the way he does because he cares for me." He paused to take in the shocked looks of his friends. "As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not like you guys. I have to work very hard to survive in the world of crime fighting.

The missions that you guys have seen can't even begin to compare with what Gotham is like. There if you fall when fighting you don't get a second chance. Battles don't stop because you bruised a few ribs or you didn't do a move right. And if you don't do a move right you will likely end up dead. There it's live or die, perfection or failure. Batman makes sure I won't fail by pushing me so hard. Pushing ourselves to our limit is how we stay alive.

But I don't expect you guys to get it. You can't, because you haven't seen what I have. You guys haven't seen a man blow a hospital to kingdom come because he thinks it's fun, you haven't seen countless people die when some guy decides to gas a school because he didn't get the money he wanted, you haven't seen a mad man obsessed with fear torture children because he wants to hear them scream, because he revels in it, you haven't seen human nature at its worse. When you've seen half of the things that I have then you may start to understand. But until then I don't want to ever hear you question Batman's method again." The little bird got up and left before anyone could react.

The team was flabbergasted to say the least. Wally looked like someone had slapped him in the face, Conner was staring off into space with a blank expression, Kaldur looked slightly disturbed, Artemis was opening and closing her mouth but no one sound was escaping her lips, Megan had started crying half way through Robin's rant and was finally starting to calm down.

They all stared off at the door that Robin had disappeared to. They never knew much about their little bird and now they had gotten a small glimpse into his world. And what they saw had scared them. How could Robin deal with all that and still stay sane? How could he be so cheerful, seem so innocent, and yet have witnessed some things that were beyond the realm of even their own worst nightmares?

Robin was still a conundrum shrouded in mystery but some of the pieces were slowly falling into place, and with each piece the team was gaining more and more respect for their youngest, yet oldest, teammate.

* * *

><p><strong>AN This is the first time that the team ever saw Batman train Robin. Sorry if it was kind of dark, I got the idea after reading 'How They Stay Alive' by Maka103 **

* * *

><p>Bonus Story:<p>

Robin had disappeared again and Megan was the only one who was still looking, everyone else had given up two hours ago.

After another hour of looking Megan found him curled up in a light fixture hanging from the ceiling. "Robin, why are you hiding?"

The little bird lifted his head and gave her a scared face. "Because it's the thirteenth chapter, something bad is bound to happen and Angelina loves to torture me. I'm not coming down until the fourteenth chapter."

Megan was surprised; she never took Robin for the superstitious type.

"I've already seen a black cat, walked under a ladder, stepped on a crack, and broken a mirror. I'm doomed!" The acrobat wailed.

Now the Martian was having trouble concealing giggles, Robin looked like a scared puppy. "I'm sure you'll be fine. It's just the thirteenth chapter; it's not the end of the Fanfiction world."

Robin just whimpered and held onto the light tighter.

"Robin, what if the light breaks?" The Martian hoped that logic would decide to return to the scared boy.

The acrobat considered this for a moment before letting go of the light and landing nimbly beside Megan. He stayed hunched over for a minute but when seeing that nothing bad had happened he straightened up. "I guess you're right, it's only the thirteenth chapter. I was just being silly."

"I'll make some cookies to help you feel beter!" Megan squealed and floated off toward the kitchen. She turned around, however when she heard a huge crashing noise. Robin was lying unconscious on the floor beneath a light fixture that had come crashing down just as he had been walking beneath it.

"I guess it really wasn't his chapter." Megan said as she pulled out a four-leaf clover, waved it in the air, and then threw salt over her right shoulder. She was glad that the thirteenth chapter could only come once in a series.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright chose your sequel for next time: Frying Pan of Doom sequel (Wally's Cinderella dream) or Camping Trip sequel?<strong>


	14. Camping Trip: Take 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Young Justice, happy?

Camping Trip: Take 2

By

Angelina

**Rated: K+**

"Why are we doing this again?" Wally asked as he, Robin, Kaldur, and Conner found themselves in the mountains on another League sponsored camping trip.

"Because the League is stupid and we have to listen to them if we want to continue fighting." Robin answered.

"Why do we want to join them again?" Wally groaned, loading all of their stuff onto Conner.

"Uh-uh." The clone growled and shoved Wally's pack harshly into the speedster's stomach. "You're carrying your own gear."

Kaldur stepped in before a fight could ensue. "My friends; please do not fight. We shall have a fun time."

Robin chuckled. "I brought bear repellent with me this time, and Batman allowed me to bring my computer in case something goes wrong. I also packed a separate tent for Wally, since he brought more beans."

Wally flushed furiously, his face rivaling the colour of his hair.

"Plus there's some really aster trails back here. There's even a waterfall that we can hike to. It won't be nearly as bad as last time." Robin continued as the four teens set off.

After a few miles they came to a nice clearing and paused to take a break. Kid Flash put his stuff down and began unpacking things only to be stopped by Robin. "We still have six hours until sunset and I know a nice spot to camp near that waterfall. We won't be camping here tonight."

Wally huffed but packed his stuff again. When the speedster was done the group set off again. The trail up to the waterfall was gorgeous. It wound gently up one of the mountains and afforded breathtaking views of the mountain range they were in. The range rolled gently and gave off a blue tint in the afternoon sunlight. Ferns lined the trail and various forms of wildlife could be spotted through the trees. Robin droned on about the different species that lived there but the group tuned him out as they enjoyed the view. Conner even found a lizard to be friends with. Wally was the only one who wasn't having fun, he kept grumbling about the country and how he hated it and just wanted to be back home in society.

Two hours later they came to a rocky outcrop where Kaldur ordered a rest. Robin shrugged his backpack off of his shoulders and began scaling the outcrop. He clung to the rocks like a spider and began climbing up without a line. After Robin was about thirty feet up he found a ledge that he could perch on. He sat and gazed out of the mountain ranges, absorbing their majesty. He loved this trail, Bruce used to fly him out just to hike it like Bruce's father had done for him. Robin knew that if he ever had children that he would take them up here. Robin was pulled from his thoughts by Wally's loud laughter as he played with Conner's lizard. The acrobat smiled, he was happy to share his little haven with his friends.

"Robin, how far is it to the waterfall?" Kaldur called out as Robin began his descent.

"Another hour."

"But we've already been hiking for four hours!" Wally said as he dramatically wiped his brow.

"You're Kid Flash, this little hike should be nothing compared to the distances you normally run." The acrobat retrieved his pack and the four teens set off again.

Wally grumbled as he fell into line behind Robin and in front of Kaldur, Conner brought up the rear of their procession. The trail here was only wide enough for one person, with an earthy wall on one side and a 200 foot drop on the other.

The speedster continued to grumble as he swatted at some gnats. The gnats continued to pester Wally, flying around his face and getting in his eyes. The speedster cried out indignantly and began swatting in earnest, arms flailing in all directions and with a small cry he stepped off of the cliff. Time, as it often did for speedsters, slowed to a crawl and he was able to fully hyperventilate as he saw the drop, a drop that was ended by rocks and trees far below. Wally's mind raced as he tried to think of a way to save himself, but logical thought seemed to have fled his brain and he was only left with thoughts of his impending doom.

The speedster gave another cry as time sped back to normal and he felt a small arm encircle his waist and pull him over the edge back to solid ground. Wally lay there for a second, kissing the sweet dirt, before looking up to see his savior.

Robin squatted next to him with his trademark smirk adorning his face. "Try to be a little more careful next time." He helped Wally to his feet and the speedster brushed himself off indignantly.

After another hour of hiking they finally reached an even smaller trail. Robin began down the trail pushing tree branches and briars out of his way, only for them to snap back in the face of Wally. Every time a branch struck the speedster he opened his mouth to protest only to get another mouthful of vegetation . Ten minutes passed in this manner before the trail opened up to a gorgeous clearing. The clearing had a large space ideal for a camp with a small stream and a large log perfect for a bench, wildflowers of purple and blue grew in abundance and moss peeked out from the trees and rocky outcrops. A large waterfall about twenty feet in height greeted the teenagers as they stepped into the fairy-like clearing. This was Robin's special spot, a spot that only he and Bruce knew about.

"We're here." Robin said breathlessly as he dropped his pack.

The three older boys stood and gaped. Kaldur uttered a few strings in Atlantian at the beauty. Conner's actually smiled. And Wally forgot about the handful of leaves that he was planning on shoving in Robin's mouth. They were all enchanted by the simple elegance of the clearing.

Robin broke their reverie when he started loudly setting up the tent, having read the instructions this time. The others scrambled to help him set up camp and in no time they had the tent pitched, had a fire built but not lit, a good stack of firewood for later, and the bags unpacked of necessary items.

"Who wants to go swimming?" Robin asked as he emerged from the tent with his swim trunks on.

Kaldur got up and joined the little bird as he raced to the pool underneath the waterfall. Conner and Wally changed at superspeed and jumped in mere seconds after their friends.

The pool was fifteen feet at its deepest point and about thirty feet wide, a perfect size for their small group.

"Hey Supey!" Robin hollered.

The clone turned to acknowledge his younger friend only to be confronted by a wave to his face. Conner spluttered and wiped the water out of his eyes; he shot a murderous glance at the laughing bird and sent a wave in his direction. Robin ducked under the water, avoiding the wave, and gracefully propelled himself over to where Wally's was treading water. He broke the surface right in front of the speedster and squirted a stream of water from his mouth into the unsuspecting face of his best friend. He ducked under the water again before Wally could recover and seek retribution.

When Robin next emerged he was between Wally and Conner. Both older boys gave a triumphant cry and moved to splash the boy. The little bird ducked under the water and instead of the waves hitting him they hit the two who had created them. Both Wally and Conner looked at each other dumbfounded before Conner gave a growl and started splashing the speedster. The result was an all-out splashing war, which Kaldur won when he trapped all three in a ball of water that he raised five feet above the pool and then released. The three fell into the pool with a crash that drowned out even the noise of the waterfall.

Kaldur poked his head above the water and laughed. Wally broke the surface first, spluttering and cursing the Atlantian. "Cheater." He mumbled under his breath, Kaldur's laughter increased.

Conner broke the surface next with a glower at the laughing ocean-dweller. Kaldur continued to laugh until he noticed that Robin hadn't returned to the surface. The other two noticed the little bird's absence when Kaldur laughter died abruptly.

"Where's Robin?" Wally asked, surveying the clearing to find no signs of his friend.

The three shared a scared look before diving beneath the surface. A minute later they broke the surface after finding no bird. "Any sign of him?" Wally asked as he saw the other two come up with empty hands. Conner and Kaldur shook their heads.

Wally was getting frantic now. He could just imagine Robin lying on the bottom somewhere running out of air. He was about to dive in again when Conner grabbed his arm. "There." The speedster's eyes followed the clone's pointing finger to see Robin standing at the top of the waterfall.

Robin waved at the three, oblivious to the panic he had caused, and jumped. "Geronimo!" he yelled as he cannonballed into the pool below, sending a wave of water towards the three older teens.

He surfaced with a cackle. But his laughter stopped when he saw the looks on his friends' faces. "What?"

"Dude! You scared us half to death!" Wally cried.

"You should not disappear like that Robin." Admonished Kaldur.

The acrobat had the grace to look sheepish. "Sorry." He mumbled.

His disappearing act was soon forgotten, however, when he showed the others a hidden path to get to the top of the waterfall. They continued to jump from it for hours, only coming out when it was nearing dark.

They changed from their wet swim trunks, lit the fire, and ate a dinner of beans and hotdogs. By now the sun was beginning to set. Robin stood and motioned for the others to follow him. He led them up a path that took them to the top of the mountain. They arrived in time to see the sun turning the sky orange and pink as it dipped below the blue mountains. Clouds settled on the valley far below and gave them the impression of being above the world, of being in a place so high that you could touch Heaven. They all gasped at the gorgeous view.

Robin walked to the very edge of the cliff that faced the valley and sat down with his legs hanging over the edge. The others joined him shortly. "This is my special place. My father takes me up here occasionally. This is where I come when I need to forget about things, or escape from the problems of the world. When I'm here I don't have to worry about what psycho is threatening Gotham, or what test is coming up. Here I feel like I can leave everything behind and just enjoy the beauty. Only my father and I really know about this place, until now."

Wally, Conner, and Kaldur looked at their little bird as he stared out at the sunset. "We are honoured that you would share something so special with us." Kaldur said.

"Yeah dude, thanks for sharing your special place." Wally said as he nudged Robin with his shoulder.

Conner, never good with words, simply placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and gave the acrobat a smile when he turned towards him.

They sat up on the cliff and watched the sun until it had disappeared behind a mountain. The moon and stars came out shortly after, casting the surroundings in a silvery glow. "Who's up for s'mores?" Robin asked as he got up from his spot and stretched.

"You must teach me how not to burn the marshmellers." Kaldur said, stumbling over the pronunciation of marshmallow.

Robin laughed. "You got it."

(I was going to end it there until I got another idea, hopefully I don't ruin the story by continuing)

The rest of the night was fairly peaceful; they made s'mores, Kaldur catching his on fire; told stories of their adventures; and laughed at Wally's funny tales. Robin was surprisingly the first to tire, his eyes drooping as Kaldur regaled a tale of his king's valour.

"I think it's time for you to get some sleep, little birdie." Conner said as he scooped the unsuspecting Robin up bridal style.

The acrobat gave a yelp of surprise and struggled briefly before allowing the clone to carry him towards the tent. "Wait." He mumbled as Wally moved to unzip the tent-flap for the laden clone. "Why don't we sleep out here tonight, there's not a cloud in sight."

The other three looked up to the heavens at Robin's comment. The sky was nothing but a plethora of stars, so numerous that they truly could number more than the sands on the beach. Kaldur agreed and they dragged their sleeping bags out of the tent and around the fire, gazing at the enchanting stars. Everyone was asleep not more than ten minutes later.

They were awoken an hour later when rain began to pour down on their campsite, extinguishing their fire and soaking them. "Not a cloud in sight, huh?" Wally said as he dragged his sodden sleeping bag into the tent.

Robin gave a nervous laugh and tried to fall back to sleep in his now soaked bed. Soon loud snores filled the tent as they dropped off one by one.

They were awoken again by a rumbling noise in the distance. The four boys ran out of the tent to see what was going on. The rain was harder than ever, most of the campsite was flooded and the pool was overflowing with water. Suddenly a ten foot wall of water appeared beyond the waterfall.

"Oh crap." Robin muttered as he watched the wall flood down the waterfall and into the pool to continue barreling towards him and his teammates. Before the wall could hit him, however, he felt two massive arms wrap around him and pull him into a strong chest. Superboy put his back to the flash flood and dug his feet into the ground as the current hit him and threatened to send him and his parcel into its torrents. From where he was crushed up against Conner's chest Robin was protected from most of the onslaught but he could feel the surprising force that the flood carried as it slammed into him and his protector. After what felt like hours (in reality about fifteen minutes) the flooding died down to about three feet of water and continued to drain as it crashed down the mountain towards the valley below. Though the flooding that remained held a strong current and Superboy had to keep a firm stance from being swept away (as little as two feet of water can sweep away a large SUV in a flash flood). Robin looked around to see Wally and Kaldur in a protective bubble that the Atlantian was maintaining. Though they were all safe their campsite, and all of their supplies, had been washed away. Kaldur made his way over to Robin and Superboy and they soon found themselves under the bubble's protection. Conner put the little bird down.

"Can you contact Batman?" Wally asked as Robin sat down next to him. They had moved to sit on a rock that was out of the flooding and Kaldur continued to maintain a disk above their heads to keep out the rain.

"No, my holo-computer was in the tent. Batman's gonna to kill me when he finds out I lost that thing!"

"Dude, that's what you're worried about? We're in the middle of a flash freaking flood!" Wally waved his arms around emphatically.

The flooding had now died down considerably, only a few inches of water remained, though the peaceful stream that flowed from the waterfall was now a raging river.

"Can't you just use the emergency signal on your belt again?" Wally asked hopefully as he vibrated to keep warm.

Robin shook his head. "Batman made it very clear that I was not to use it on this trip unless we are in a life or death situation." Wally made a move to protest but Robin cut him off. "We are not in a life a death situation right now; as long as we stay here we'll be fine. The flood is passed."

Wally humphed and began munching on a candy bar.

"Can you keep this up Kaldur?" Robin motioned to the disk that shielded them from the rain.

Kaldur nodded. "It is quite easy."

The acrobat gave him an appreciative smile before curling closer to Conner. They waited anxiously for the rain to stop and dawn to break.

Seven hours later Megan's ship hovered over the clearing to find the sun out and the boys asleep in a huge pile on top of a rock. She cooed at how cute they looked curled up together before realizing that their campsite was flooded and none of their supplies were left. Though the flooding prevented her from fully landing, she was able to get the ship to hover three feet over the sodden ground. "Are you ok?" The Martian asked as she ran out of her ship and approached the pile of boys.

The pile stirred and Robin poked his head out from between Wally's arm and Kaldur's side. "We're wet but fine. Glad you finally got here."

The four teens worked out of the knot of limbs they had managed to form to find Flash and Batman standing in front of them.

"I take it camping didn't go so great?" Flash asked as he helped his nephew off the ground.

"You can say that again." Wally mumbled.

"I take it camping didn't go so great?" The red-head glared at his mentor. "Yeesh." Flash mumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"What are you doing here?" Conner inquired.

"We heard about the flooding on the news and deemed it wise to make sure you were unharmed." Batman explained in an uninterested monotone, though on the inside he was glad to see all of the teens unharmed. He glanced at his protégé, surveying him for any damage.

"We're fine now." Robin said, not missing Batman's glance. "Just don't go sending us on another camping trip." Robin added under his breath.

The red-headed speedster snorted. "You know, if the Justice League likes to send us camping so much then they should try it some time, see where that gets them."

Four weeks later:

"Welcome to the annual Justice League camping trip!" Flash said excitedly as he bounced around the campsite.

Robin glared at his best friend. "You just had to open your big mouth, didn't you KF?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN My family frequently hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains which is the setting for this story. It really is gorgeous up there and is one of my favourite places to explore. Sky Line Drive (one of the mountain ridges in the Blue Ridge) is constantly listed as one of the most beautiful places in Virginia. **

**Here are some links to what the mountains look like as I cannot do them justice when describing them:**

**http:/ www. highcountryimages .com/ (spaces removed)**

**The sunset:**

**http:/ blog. Travelpod .com/ travel-blog-entries /j_bannister /1/ 1261003007/ (spaces removed)**

**The waterfall:**

**http:/ visuallens. wordpress. com/ tag/ blue-ridge- mountains-of-virginia/ (spaces removed)**

**Please do look at some of the links because I really love my mountains and I would love for you guys to see what I admire. **

**For those who voted for Wally's Cinderella dream I will be writing one but I am going to post it in my other story: Frying Pan of Doom. So be on the lookout for that; I will hopefully have it up sometime in the coming week :D**

**Wally almost falling off of a cliff was written for ShadowCat98 who had a similar experience happen to her. **

**I apologize if the story did not transition well, I am not to happy with the way it turned out…**


	15. Robin Torture!

Robin Torture!

By

Angelina

**Angelina: Greetings and salutations wonderful readers! Robin and I wish to thank you all as this story has successfully reached over 100 reviews and 11,000 hits!**

**Robin: We do?**

**Angelina: Yes we do. And to show my gratitude to you all I have written a special Robin torture story for you. **

**Robin: For the record, I never agreed to this!**

**Angelina: Since when has that stopped me?**

**Robin: Good point… Your title is really lame! **

**Angelina: Shut up, shortpants!**

**Robin: Don't you call me shortpants, midget!**

**Angelina: I am not a midget. **

**Robin: Says the 4'11" girl… **

**Angelina: *clears throat* Thank you all for your wonderful support, I hope you enjoy the story as it was written specifically to thank you guys :D Now if you excuse I have a ninja to go lose to. **

**GET BACK HERE DICK! **

* * *

><p><strong>Rated: T for violence<strong>

Robin had been pulled away from the Young Justice team to help Batman on a mission in Gotham. It had been rumoured that the fourth-street gang was attempting to smuggle missiles and automatic rifles into the city. So of course the Dynamic Duo was going to put an end to it, rumour or not.

The battle had gone in favour of the Caped Crusaders until the tides turned when Riddler showed up, Batman and Robin hadn't known that the fourth street gang had thrown their lot in with him.

The battle became heated. Shots were ringing out everywhere, a few coming close to striking the Dynamic Duo. Riddler had a p-90 (machine gun) in his hands and was cackling at the top of his lungs as he let it rip, his henchman following suit.

Batman dodged the flying missiles and watched proudly as Robin expertly dodged as well, flipping gracefully out of the way. However, to his horror, Batman noticed one bullet on a collision course for where Robin's next flip would land. Without thought Batman dove for his partner, knocking him out of the way and taking the shot meant for Robin in his chest. Robin could tell from the low grunt of pain that escaped his mentor that the bullet had breached the Kevlar. He looked worriedly at Batman as he got up but the older hero waved him off and continued to fight. Soon, however, Batman's movements began to slow, becoming sluggish, and then he fell. With a cry Robin was at his side in an instant; Batman was dead to the world.

The small acrobat bravely took a protective stance over his father but he was left to fight six armed henchman and their question mark riddled leader. The Boy Wonder attempted to fend off numerous attacks as he defended his prone partner, but there were too many and they were coming too fast. Before he knew it Riddler had activated a bomb at the base of several support columns. Robin only had time to throw himself over Batman before it went off.

The blast was deafening and he was painfully aware of the building caving in on top of him. He felt the debris that hit him, he heard the horrendous crashing noises as heavy beams and concrete slabs landed around him, and he felt searing pain as a heavy steel beam slammed into his side and back. He could feel Batman under him and he curled into the older hero to protect him from the falling debris. Finally the building stopped falling and the dust began to settle.

Robin coughed loudly and tried to assess the damage and the position that he was in. He found that he was pinned completely, unable to move anything. Batman was still under him, unconscious. The only good news was that his hand had been wedged against his utility belt. _Thank God_ he thought as he wiggled his fingers under a pouch to activate an emergency beacon back to the Batcave, he knew that Alfred would send help. After he was sure the beacon had been activated he relaxed and focused on breathing. But it was difficult to breath with a concrete slab pinning him and every labored breath he managed to take in set his body on fire with an unholy pain. He coughed again and nearly cried out as pain wracked his body, he was sure that he had ruptured something. Clenching his eyes shut Robin willed himself to let go of this painful reality but oblivion had other ideas. For some reason it wasn't interested in taking him, it seemed content to leave him in this painful misery. Though, now that he thought about it, it was probably best that he stayed conscious. With the internal injuries and concussion that he was bound to have he was sure that if he fell asleep he would not be waking up again for a while.

So he just lay there, pinned between the crushing steel and the partner he was shielding with his small body. He prayed that help would get there soon.

He didn't know how much time had passed- minutes, hours, days- until he heard his team arrive.

* * *

><p>"ROBIN!" Kid Flash called as he skidded to a halt in front of the place where his GPS indicated that Robin should be, but instead of finding the little bird he found a pile of rubble. "Oh God Rob, what did you get yourself into this time?" He asked aloud as he shakily began to dig through the building in search of his best friend.<p>

"KF, stand down!" Aqualad hollered at the speedster, holding a hand up to silence him when Kid Flash opened his mouth to protest. "Superboy, is anyone alive in there?"

"I hear two heartbeats, both are weak and one is getting weaker!"

Aqualad breathed a sigh of relief that they were still alive and tried to shove his worry to the back of his mind. "Megan I need you to stabilize the rubble, we cannot risk it falling in on them anymore."

The Martian nodded, put two fingers on either side of her temples, and screwed her face up in concentration. After a minute she opened glowing eyes. "I got it."

"Let us get them out!" The leader yelled.

The team, minus Megan, began digging, pausing every so often to call out Robin's name.

They had been digging for almost fifteen minutes and there was still no sign of their little bird or his mentor. Superboy was getting frantic as he listened to the heartbeats grow even weaker. He tried to use them to pinpoint his friend's location but he couldn't, his hearing just didn't want to cooperate with him. The Boy of Steel let out a howl of rage and pick up a large beam, hurling it away from the pile of wreckage to God knows where.

And that's when he heard it. It was so soft that he thought he had imagined it, but after another minute of intense listening he heard it again.

"Help." The cry was hoarse and weak, a sound that the clone never thought he would hear coming out of either of the Bats' mouths.

"Silence!" he barked to his teammates as he tried to hear where the sounds came from. Again he heard the weak voice cry out for help, but his time he heard where the sound came from. With a cry he threw himself on the pile of rubble, under which he now knew his teammate was buried, and began digging furiously. The others made a move to join his efforts but were forced back when Superboy began digging at an almost superspeed pace, hurling the debris in all directions.

As the clone lifted a heavy beam a pair of black boots was revealed. Batman he thought as he continued to dig. A few heavy pieces of debris later he had uncovered the entire lower body of Batman but there was still no sign of Robin. Superboy kept digging frantically, rending the debris into pieces as his superstrength was unleashed upon the obstacles that kept him from his best friend. With a loud grunt he lifted a large steel beam and hurled it away. Robin was lying underneath. He was curled over Batman's head, shoulders, and upper chest. His small body protecting Batman from the concrete slab, it was quite likely that Robin's actions had saved the older vigilante's life.

"Knew y'guys would fin' me." He mumbled sleepily as Superboy dropped beside him to check him over for injuries.

The rest of the team crowded around and helped to extract the two from the debris. Finally Superboy was able to lift their little bird from the rubble. Megan came behind and carefully lifted Batman out telepathically.

Robin's closing eyes widened as he saw the limp form of Batman extracted from the rubble after him. His masked eyes found Wally's as his best friend looked worriedly at him. "Is he-"

"He's still alive." The speedster assured him.

Before any of them could figure out what to do next they were interrupted by the swoosh of a cape, the tell-tale sign of Superman's arrival.

The blue and red clad hero landed softly in between Superboy and Megan. He surveyed both of the injured birds before deciding that Batman needed immediate medical attention more than Robin did. He took the vigilante in his arms before turning back to the teens. "I'm taking Batman to the Watchtower. M'gann, I need you to bring Robin there. I assume you know the way."

The Martian nodded.

Superman looked at his clone. "Good work." Before Superboy had a chance to respond the older hero was gone.

The team quickly loaded onto Megan's bio ship. Superboy depositing his precious bundle on a medical bed as Megan took off. He and Wally watched as Robin slowly lost his battle with unconsciousness.

A little while later they arrived at the Watchtower. A medical team was already waiting and whisked Robin off to the infirmary as soon as they landed.

…

The next day Batman regained consciousness. He was in a private medical room, hooked up to various monitors, and with an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. It only took his sharp mind a few seconds to realize where he was and what had happened that landed him there, even though it was clouded by a massive dose of painkillers. He was also aware that his costume had been removed and that he was dressed in a surgical gown.

Bruce's mind explored the injuries that he had sustained and he found a gunshot wound that had broken two ribs but hit no organs, a broken wrist, and severely bruised legs; nothing that he couldn't get over in two weeks' time. Bruce sat up and began removing the mask, monitors, and IV's from his form. As soon as he was free from the tangle of wires he swung his legs out of bed and onto the floor. After two attempts at standing he succeeded. His legs and chest burned but he pushed it to the back of his mind, he had to find out what had happened and where Robin was. He found it odd that his partner had not been in the room with him. On the rare occasions when he had been injured in the past, Robin had not left the room until he was sure that Bruce was awake and would be fine and then he would only leave when Alfred hauled him off to go to bed.

He was almost at the door when it opened to reveal Superman's large frame. It only took a second for the Kryptonian to be at Bruce's side and propelling him back to his bed. "You shouldn't be up yet, they said you would be out of it for another day."

Bruce gave him his best Bat-glare as he was dropped back in bed and felt satisfied when Superman flinched visibly. "Where's Robin?" He might as well use the annoying menace while he was still in the room.

An uncomfortable look crossed Superman's face as he sat down on a chair next to the bed.

"I said. Where. Is. Robin?" Bruce enunciated every word clearly and deadly to be sure that his message would resonate with the thick-headed Kryptonian.

Superman sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "After you were shot Riddler blew up the building. You and Robin were buried beneath the rubble. His injuries did not look as severe as yours until closer examination. He suffered quite a bit of internal damage, the doctors say he is stable but he's unresponsive."

Bruce's Bat-glare morphed into DaddyBats-glare and Superman could have sworn that the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. "What aren't you telling me?" Bruce's tone was deadly.

Superman gulped. Curse Bats and their ability to tell that you were hiding something! "When we found Robin he was curled on top of you, protecting you from the collapse. He obtained most of his injuries when a steel beam fell on top of you both. Robin saved your life, the beam would likely have killed you if it had not landed on him."

"Where is he?" Bruce asked getting up from bed.

Superman attempted to restrain him but immediately stopped when Bruce turned a deadly glare his direction, thank goodness that man didn't have heat vision. "Clark, where is he?"

The Kryptonian weighed the decision in his mind before deciding that it would be less harmful to both him and Bruce if he just told his friend where Robin was. "Down the hall in observation room 6."

Bruce gave Superman another DaddyBats-glare before swiftly exiting the room and silently padding down the hall. He entered observation room 6 without a sound, leaving a disgruntled Kryptonian in his wake.

Bruce was greeted with a sight that he had seen too many times for his liking. Robin was lying in a white hospital bed with wires and tubes covering his small form and a clear tube disappearing down his throat. Several monitors beeped steadily and an EEG showed that he was just as Superman had said: comatose.

Bruce sighed and pulled up a chair. He sat down at his son's bedside and took the boy's small hand into his own, using the other to peel back the black domino mask. He continued to sit in the sterile room for hours, silently keeping watch over his son. He rarely spoke, and then the only words that escaped his lips were either of hope that he would wake up or of sorrow that it was his fault his son was in this position. Only once did the words _I love you_ escape his mouth.

* * *

><p>Two weeks later Dick's mind finally came out of the dreamland it had been stuck in. He slowly blinked his eyes open, marveling at how difficult even that little movement was, how much strength it took. After his blue orbs had adjusted to the dim lighting in the room he looked around. There were multiple monitors each beeping to a different rhythm, several different medical instruments lay on a table next to his bed, and a bedpan lay just to the side of the instruments. But the thing that caught his eye was the man asleep in a chair beside his bed. Bruce was slumped over, his head resting on his chest and his hand a few inches away from Dick's.<p>

The acrobat tried to call for his father only to realize that there was a tube going down his throat. He knew that it wasn't wise to panic but this felt weird and he wanted it out, _now_. His strangled noises woke Bruce up and the older man stood up so fast his chair toppled to the ground. "Do you want it out?"

Dick nodded frantically and gave him a 'what do you think' look. Bruce gently pulled the tube out, trying not to pay attention to the squelching noise it made. After it was out Bruce stroked his little bird's raven hair until he calmed down. Bruce gave a relieved look as sat down where the chair was supposed to be and fell, his rear slamming painfully into the floor. He had never heard the chair topple over. Dick giggled at his father until the weird look on Bruce's face stopped him.

"What's wrong?" His senses of worry were going into overdrive. What could have happened that caused the great Batman to be so off of his game that he did notice that his chair had fallen, even when Dick had heard it clearly?

"Yo-you've been in a coma for two weeks."

That was why Bruce was so out of it! From the looks of his adoptive father, he probably hadn't left Dick's bedside for the past two weeks. Dick tried to piece together what had occured what had happened but on a few memories remained from the night the building had collapsed. The little bird gave Bruce a blank look which was no in any way reasurring to the older man.

"Oh Dickie, I'm so sorry! It was all my fault." Two tears leaked from Bruce's eyes, one from each.

Dick was startled, in the six years that he had known Bruce he had only see the man cry twice. It scared him and before he knew it he was hugging his adoptive father, trying to chase away his tears. After a few minutes Bruce regained his composure and released Dick.

"It wasn't your fault at all daddy." This seemed to set Bruce off again.

"I-I thought I lost you. Your heart stopped twice." Bruce was now sitting on the edge of Dick's bed, his back to his son. "I couldn't bear it if I lost you."

Dick could tell that Bruce was dangerously close to crying again. He reached up and placed a bandaged hand on his father's back. "I'm still here now and I promise that I won't leave you."

Bruce turned to his son and smiled for the first time in weeks.

* * *

><p><strong>AN Gah! I wrote most of this in a little less than two hours, but it took me four days to finish the ending! So I hoped you liked it because is really was meant to thank you guys for your awesome support.**

**Anyway, should I continue the camping theme for the next story or write one about the team's first visit to McDonalds? The McDonalds story would guest star Roy.**


	16. McDonalds

McDonalds

By

Angelina

**Rated: K+**

Roy had no clue how he had managed to get suckered into this, _again_. It was supposed to have been a nice day out with Wally and Dick but that had soon changed when the rest of the team decided to tag along.

And now his van was full of teenagers. Wally was in the front seat next to him, Robin was crammed in between Kaldur and Conner, and Megan and Artemis had the backseat all to themselves. Roy had been driving them around Happy Harbour for the past three hours and if he had to go to one more place he was sure that he would snap.

"I'm hungry!" Wally yelled over the rock music that Roy was playing. Roy's hands gripped the wheel until his knuckles went white, why did he always get stuck babysitting?

"You're always hungry." Robin hollered back with a smirk.

"I want McDonalds, Roy would you please take me to McDonalds?"

"No." Roy was not indulging the glutton of a speedster.

"What is this McDonalds?" Megan asked.

"You've never been beautiful?" Wally was incredulous, how could she have never been to McDonalds?

The Martian shook her head.

"Come on Roy, we have to go now. I bet Superboy and Kaldur haven't been either."

Both boys shook their heads, they had never been.

"Please, Roy, _please_!"

"No." Roy was not going to McDonalds.

"Please." Robin joined in.

"No."

"Please." Both the speedster and the acrobat were begging now.

"Fine." Curse his brothers.

Robin, Wally, and Megan all cheered. Kaldur look interested, Artemis could care less, and Conner scowled.

In five minutes Roy was pulling into the drive-thru at the Happy Harbour McDonalds. "What do you guys want?"

Various orders were all called up at the same time and he rubbed his temples, turning his blaring music down.

"What is a Happy Meal?" Kaldur asked as he read over the menu.

"You've never had a happy meal?" Wally asked with a shocked expression.

Kaldur shook his head and Megan mentioned that she had never had one.

"That's it; we're all getting Happy Meals."

"Speak for yourself Kid Idiot, I want a Big Mac." Artemis glowered at the speedster.

"Whatever Blondie." Wally said.

The ensuing fight was interrupted by a woman's voice coming over the intercom system. "Hello and welcome to McDonalds, what can I get for you today?"

Roy was getting ready to tell the lady all of their various orders when Kid Flash crawled over him to stick his head out the window. "We'll take seven Happy Meals, three extra orders of fries, and five milkshakes."

"Will that be all?" The woman asked.

Roy was trying to protest but Wally had his rear in his face which made it very hard to speak.

"Yep."

"Your total is $42.38 (no clue what the cost would be, I just made that up). Your order will be ready at the next window."

Roy pulled up to the next window and dug through his wallet for the right amount, glaring at the speedster the entire time. Finally everything was paid for and the meals were handed over. Wally passed back the Happy Meals, but kept the three extra fry orders and the five milkshakes. Roy snagged three of the milkshakes. "You are not having all of that sugar, remember last time?"

Wally shuddered as he remembered the last time he had gone on a sugar high, he had been stuck in the speedforce all day, until Robin had figured out how to knock him out. Going fast was fun but not when that's all you can do. As much as he wanted all of the milkshakes he did not want to go through that again, so he let Roy distribute the other three among his team.

Finally everyone had their meals and Roy pulled back onto the highway. The teenagers began digging through their bags.

Suddenly Megan gave a squeal as she pulled out a Superboy toy. "What is this?"

"That's the toy, all Happy Meals have them." Robin stated as he dug around in his bag. After a few seconds he withdrew a Kid Flash toy. "Cool, KF I got you."

Wally looked back as Robin held out the toy. "No way dude! That is so cool. Let me see what I got." Wally stuck his head in the bag and withdrew his toy. He held a miniature Robin up.

Robin laughed. "Trade?"

"You got it!"

The toys were tossed across the van and soon both best-friends were playing with miniature versions of themselves.

By now the other teens were digging through their bags, looking to see what toy they got. Kaldur pulled out a version of himself and looked it over with a scrutinizing eye. Artemis pulled out a Miss Martian figure and was enjoying showing it to Megan. Conner pulled out a Superman toy; he scowled at it with the fiercest glance that anyone had ever seen. Robin attempted to extract the toy before they could find out if Conner had developed heat vision.

"Here you go Conner." Megan handed him the Superboy toy and in a few minutes Conner had forgotten all about the Superman toy as he made his miniature scale the window.

"What did you get Roy?" Robin called up.

Roy dug through his bag with one hand and pulled out an Artemis toy. He scowled and Wally burst out laughing. A few minutes and some trading later everyone had a version of themselves. Conner was making Superboy fly around the ceiling. Artemis and Megan were sending their miniature selves after a fleeing Aqualad, who had stolen the rest of the fries. Wally and Robin were engaged in a heated battle, which Robin was winning. Roy was left with the mangled Superman toy.

Squeals of laughter and imitated battle noises filled the car as the teens played with each other. Roy was the only one not joining in; instead he was using the distraction to drive back to Mount Justice before anyone could notice. This was the last time that he would be suckered into taking the team somewhere. He scowled as several fries hit him in the back of the head; he didn't really want to know why there was a food fight ensuing in the back.

He glanced in the rear view mirror to see Superboy and Aqualad figures in hand-to-hand combat, Robin and his figure out of his seatbelt and hanging over the back of the seat, Megan floating near the ceiling while she made her Miss Martian toy pelt the others with French fries, and Wally's toy tangled in Artemis' hair. He did not want to know how that happened.

His eye twitched as the yelling grew louder. He looked down at the mangled Superman figure on the dashboard. "Well at least I'm having a better day than you." No sooner had he said this then a milkshake came out of nowhere and landed on his head, the melting ice cream running down his face and neck. This was so the last time he ever did anything with the team.

**A/N That was so much fun! Nothing better than turning the Young Justice team into a bunch of five-year-olds and then sticking a cranky archer into the mix :D**

**So for the next chapter I wanted to do a holiday fic, do you guys want a Thanksgiving story or a Christmas story?**


	17. Mercy

Mercy

By

Angelina

**A/N I was watching Troy and Braveheart this weekend (yeah I know, nothing good can ever come of that) and got this idea. So let's commence with a random and completely AU story that has no point. Hope you guys enjoy it as this is a complete twist from my normal writing style. **

**Rated T for violent battle scenes, gore, and description of injuries. **

Dick stood behind Bruce, the man who had taught him everything, anxiously awaiting the orders to charge.

He had been training for this for years. Bruce had trained him to be a warrior, one of the greatest warriors Gotham kingdom had ever seen. Now was his chance to seal his name in history, to obtain the glory that would make him immortal.

His knees shook slightly as he watched the Trojans charging over the dunes, kicking up dust and sand in their wake.

"Hold!" Bruce yelled.

Dick focused on Bruce in an attempt to calm his nerves. Bruce was the great hero of the Gothamite army. He was the hero that had led them to countless victories, who had slaughtered thousands, bested giants, conquered whole kingdoms, who had out-witted many kings, and who had taken him in, the lowly orphan he was. Out of all the people in Gotham he, the mighty Bruce, had taken in the wayward boy, had taught him everything he knew, had trained him to be a great warrior.

"Hold!" Bruce yelled, the Trojan army was closer now, just one more rise and he knew the catapults would release and then they would charge.

Dick's knees were now knocking together audibly, but who could blame him? This was, after all, his first major battle. But he knew when Bruce gave the order that he would charge with his fellow countrymen, to honour, to death, and to glory.

"Charge!" Bruce gave the order as he surged forward in the lead of the army, Dick and the other Gothamites hot on his heels.

He released a guttural yell as he pulled up beside Bruce, his bright blue eyes peered forth from his helmet and found Bruce's dark ones. Bruce gave him a grim smile and a nod and then they were at the front lines.

Dick didn't even pause as he saw the lines of shields and spears; instead he planted both feet firmly into the ground and pushed off, jumping high enough to clear the line of shieldsmen. He leaned forward and thrust his shield out as he crashed back to earth. He stumbled a bit in the landing but corrected himself.

He straightened up and lashed out with his shield, pushing several Trojans back as he charged forward. He spun into the contact, bringing his sword around to slash at a line of the enemy. Several men fell with a cry, a large gash ripped in their stomachs. Dick continued to charge hewing and cleaving at the enemy that pressed in on him from every side.

Bruce watched proudly as Dick plowed into the enemy, countless soldiers falling before his sword as wheat does to the sickle. His mouth was set in a grim line as he ran another hapless Trojan through. Dick would be a master warrior just as he was; he had trained the boy well. Bruce continued wade through the gore, hewing the enemy and breaking asunder their ranks.

He did not pause in his bloodlust until he heard a howl, much like that of a wolf hunting its prey. The older warrior's head snapped up from the Trojan he had just slain. The howl was unearthly, unlike any he had ever heard before, if he was capable of feeling fear than this howl would have filled him with it. He charged forward toward it, slashing at Trojan soldiers as he went. Finally he had made it to the owner of the howl. The man was tall; his skin a ghostly pail, his lips redder than a rose and parted in a grotesque smile. He wore a helmet plumed with green and carried a sword and shield that were twisted into a morbid likeness of Hades. Bruce's heart was filled with fear. But it was not the sight of the man that made his heart clench in dread, rather it was the sight of Dick, his son, standing to face the man. The two were enclosed within a circle of shieldmen, locked in a battle to the death.

Bruce could hear himself call his son's name as he tried to press into the enclosed circle, but he knew he could not intervene for sake of Dick's honour. If he slew the man for Dick the boy would be shamed. This was a battle that Dick had to fight alone, and though it pained him to do so, Bruce rocked back on his heels and watched.

The battle was fierce, with the tall man thrusting his sword and Dick blocking. The man had reach on the boy and it made it difficult for Dick to get a good strike in but the boy was an expert dodger and so far not a strike had hit the boy.

The clang of metal hitting mettle filled the air as Bruce continued to watch. The tall man lunged at Dick and the boy deflected the blow with his shield causing the tall man's sword arm to recoil, leaving his side open. Dick took the opportunity and struck. His sword flew true, but at the last minute the tall man dodged and he brought his shield arm down to pin Dick's sword arm in between his side and his shield. With one cruel twist the tall man snapped the boy's arm, smirking as Dick's pained shriek filled the air. Bruce grimaced.

Dick stumbled back and held his shield high as the tall man rained blows down upon him. Though he was blocking expertly he was being driven back and Dick knew that he could not last much longer without a sword, but his sword arm dangled uselessly at his side unable to wield a blade. With a desperate prayer to Athena (goddess of wisdom and strategy in war) he tried one last desperate move that Bruce had taught him. He waited for the tall man to swing at him and instead of blocking he lunged to the side, barely missing the flash blade. Meeting no resistance to stop his lunge the tall man stumbled forward and Dick took the opportunity to strike. He jumped and swung his shield at the tall man's neck; the edge was sharpened for this purpose and would serve him just as well as a sword if his blow struck home.

But the tall man threw an arm up at the last minute and Dick slammed into it instead of the soft flesh of the neck. The tall man's arm was nearly hewn off, Dick's shield catching in the bone. The tall man jerked away, throwing Dick off balance as his shield was ripped off of his arm. With a howl of rage and pain the tall man slashed out with his sword, Dick had no time to dodge and nothing left to block it with. The sword slashed across his throat, cutting it open. Blood spurted from the wound as he collapsed to his knees and crumbled to the ground.

Bruce gave an un-earthly howl of rage and threw himself over the circle of shieldmen. He came down on the tall man, plunging his sword deep into the unprotected flesh of the man's neck. He followed through with his leap to skid to a halt a few feet away from Dick.

For the first time Bruce saw what he had feared seeing since the day he begun to train the boy. Dick, his _son_, lay gasping in the dust of Troy, his airflow stifled by the red torrents of hot blood that streamed from his slit throat onto the sand. The youth's gasping breath came in a sort of gruesome gurgling, the sound more repulsive to those watching than even the sight of the blood itself. His panicked, fearful, bright blue eyes darted around the crowds above him, but when they came at last to Bruce, they never left. Upon seeing his father, the boy looked relieved, even happy, despite his pain.

Rendered temporarily immobile by the horror before him, the older warrior finally uttered a cry of grief and dashed madly to his son's side, kneeling next to him in the rough sand. Bruce hurriedly surveyed the damage as well as his shocked faculties would allow him, but it was too much to take in. The wound was far too deep, and Dick had already lost so much blood. He was choking, slowly suffocating in the crimson tide.

Bruce removed the boy's helmet and tossed it aside. "Richard!" He cried brokenly. He held the youth's face in his calloused hands, his thumbs ever so gently wiping away the blood that escaped the child's lips. The boy convulsed in his worried arms, seized with a pain –an agony- that Bruce wished, more than anything, he could shoulder himself.

This could not be happening, could not be real! Surely this was nothing more than another horrible nightmare, from which he could not wake. But he _would_ wake – he_ must_, because if he did not, this boy he had cared for over the past eight years would be lost to him forever.

The fighting on their part of the battlefield had ceased as the soldiers silently watched the scene of grief and trauma unfold before them. Only one mustered the courage to speak as the gurgles of the dying boy filled the stillness. "Bruce!" Clark called. "Bruce, you must end this. It is over."

"No!" Bruce yelled defiantly. "It is not too late. We can still help him. We must. He can still be sa-" His voice trailed off, swallowed in the suffocating stillness around him. He looked down at Dick's face; he listened as the boy tried to breath, a gurgling sound emanating from his throat as more crimson blood spilled forth. It was too late, nothing could be done. His son was dying.

"Richard." He knew what he had to do, his voice was full of sorrow and his eyes begged the boy's forgiveness. "Dick, Dickie, I'm sorry. I am so sorry."

A lump in Bruce's throat silenced anything else that he had to say and his eyes swam with tears that he let fall unchecked. Dick looked back at him, the blood flooding the youth's throat making it impossible to talk. His innocent blue eyes conveyed his understanding and his love and his fear, but they also pleaded with him to end his torment. A silent tear trickled down the side of his dirty face.

Bruce nodded silently; it would be his honour –his horror- to end this precious life. The warrior picked up the sword that lay forgotten by his side and raised it above his head. His fingers curled around the hilt in a death grip, and for the first time his hands shook as he grasped the sword. He looked once more at Dick's face, looking deeply into the blue eyes. He knew this had to be done. "I love you, son." He choked out as he brought the bronze blade down forcefully, cringing at the sound it made as it tore into his son's flesh. Dick gave a small shudder around the mettle imbedded in his heart and then fell limp.

Bruce left the sword where it had descended and allowed his hands to slide off the hilt, falling numbly to the boy's blood soaked breastplate. Slowly he slid his hands up, the hands that had protected Gotham, killed countless men, and conquered whole kingdoms. Up the blood slicked breastplate they slid, past the throat cut asunder and finally to cradle the boy's limp head, not even noticing amidst the depths of his sorrow that his hands had become smeared in the pristine lifeblood of a loving boy who had died too young. If only it could have been his instead…

Both armies were still, until the Trojans took advantage of retreating back to their city in the silently morose moment. No one made a move to stop them.

Bruce cried out his agony for all to hear. He bent his head over his beloved son's until their foreheads touched, and he sobbed, the tears falling heedlessly from his eyes onto Dick's pale cheeks. The warrior clutched desperately at the boy's raven hair as great shudders racked his body.

The Gothamite army slowly dissipated, wandering back to their camps as their greatest hero continued to mourn.

Bruce stiffened as he closed the unseeing blue eyes with his bloodied fingers. Vengeance, no matter how swift or complete, could never come close to concolation for this lost life. No matter what he conquered, who he killed, nothing would ever be able to remove the image branded in his mind of the child he had willingly slain – of the young life he had treasured as his own, only to end now.

Clark came up haltingly behind him, opening his mouth as though to speak, but he thought better of it and preserved the unnerving silence that was broken only by the anguished groans of the greatest warrior in the world. The Kryptonian King would let them be.

They had been inseparable in life, and it would be folly to try to part them now, in death. For only Death itself could sever the bond between them, yet Clark knew as he walked away that the father and son would be reunited ere long. Bruce's doom was sealed, his fate as sure and irreversible as that of the boy over whom he now wept.

_This_ would be remembered. None who had witnessed this sad event would ever forget that of all the fabled deeds of Bruce, Dark Knight of Gotham, the most valiant of all had been an act of mercy.

**A/N Curse your names Bruce and Dick! They are so lame! They just don't work in epics. **

**I mean 'Fear the mighty Achilles' strikes so much more fear into enemy hearts than 'Fear the mighty Bruce' or 'Fear the mighty Dick.' (that one just sounds wrong) **

**Oh well, that concludes my completely pointless AU take on if Bruce and Dick were Achilles and Patroculos (sp). Yeah that was fun… **

**Yes I know I killed Dick off, yes I know this was morbid, yes I know it was a weird idea, yes I know they were OOC, yes I enjoyed myself, yes I do have problems ;) **

**For anyone who doesn't know: a mercy stroke is when a friend ends a fallen comrades suffering by killing them with a stab to the heart, a much faster way of dying than most injuries incurred in battle. This was used regularly in war. **

**A/N So here's the plan on the holiday fic. Since I got such wonderful feedback I will be doing a Halloween fic, a Thanksgiving fic, **_**and**_** a Christmas fic. After that I will have the third and final installment of Camping Trip. What do you guys think of that?**

**Review, please**

**V**


	18. It's the Great Pumpkin, Conner Kent

It's the Great Pumpkin, Conner Kent

By

Angelina

**A/N Wow, you guys gave such great feedback that I decided I would do all three holidays requested. So this one is obviously a Halloween fic, next one will Thanksgiving, and the one after will be Christmas :D **

Part 1: It's the Great Pumpkin

**Rated: K+**

It was Halloween afternoon and Robin was seated on the couch at Mount Justice. It was his and Wally's tradition to watch 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' ever year on Halloween. The battered VHS was already in the player and Robin could hear popcorn popping in the kitchen.

Wally emerged three minutes later with two bowls of popcorn and a bag of candy. The speedster handed Robin one of the bowls and took the other for himself, tossing the bag of candy in between them as he did so.

"No way KF, candy corn!" Robin called excitedly as he grabbed the bag and tore it open. Batman never let him have this stuff. He began stuffing handfuls of the orange and yellow candies into his mouth.

Wally started the movie and pulled out another bag of candy corn for himself.

They were half way through when Megan floated into the room. At the sight of Snoopy she cooed. "Who is that dog?"

"It's Snoopy." Robin waved dismissively.

"What is a snoopy?"

"You know, the hilarious beagle that's always in a fight with the Red Baron. Supposed best friend of Charlie Brown." Wally supplied as he increased the volume.

"Who is Charlie Brown?"

"You've never seen Charlie Brown?" Robin asked incredulously.

Megan shook her head.

"We'll just have to fix that." Wally said, beckoning for Megan to sit in the seat beside him. The Martian eagerly accepted the invitation and was soon feasting on candy corn.

Robin started the movie over again and soon Megan was giggling along with the comic battle between Snoopy and the Red Baron. They were two-thirds of the way through when Kaldur walked in.

"Is this Charlie Brown?" The Atlantian recalled Speedy showing him the Christmas version once. He had enjoyed it quite a bit.

"Yeah dude, want to join us?"

Kaldur nodded and claimed the loveseat, setting aside his ever present book in favour of the movie. Wally started it over for the second time that night.

They were a quarter of the way through again when Conner walked into the room.

"What is this?" The clone motioned to the television.

"Mmph…Charlie Brown, dude. Grab a seat and we'll start it over." Wally replied around a mouthful of popcorn

"That's it! I am not starting this over again one more time!" Robin cried as he threw down his bag of candy corn. He quickly pulled up his holographic computer and patched himself into the communications of the league. "Robin calling the Justice League. We're watching 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' at Mount Justice. You all have ten minutes to get you sorry butts over here before we start it. Don't be late. Robin out." Robin turned off his computer, rewound the movie, and then headed off to the kitchen.

"Where are you going?"

"To pop more popcorn, we should be getting company in about 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

Right as Robin finished his countdown the computer announced the arrival of Speedy. Roy didn't even pause to correct it; instead he sprinted into the common room and threw himself over the back of the sofa and onto an empty seat.

The sound of Robin popping popcorn could be heard over the awkward silence that fell after Roy's arrival.

"What?" The archer asked innocently. "I really like Charlie Brown."

Wally faceplamed.

"Recognized: Flash: 04, Martian Manhunter: 07, Red Tornado: 16."

"You guys should have called sooner!" Flash berated as he sped around the room excitedly. "Where's the popcorn?"

"Here." Robin called as he emerged from the kitchen with several bowls of popcorn. Flash quickly assaulted the bowls. "I'm guessing we're going to need some more." The acrobat sighed and returned to popping up more popcorn.

"I brought the Oreos, M'gann!" Martian Manhunter called as he sat Indian style in the air next to a hovering Miss Martian. The younger Martian squealed and hugged her uncle, almost knocking him out of the air. They horded their Oreos from the gluttonous speedsters as both Barry and Wally pestered them for just one little cookie.

"I must re-charge." Red Tornado announced before leaving the room, only to secretly linger in the doorway.

Robin had just finished with five more bowls of popcorn when Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Hawkman, and both Green Lanterns strolled in. They each grabbed a bowl before joining the teens and their fellow heroes in front of the television.

Robin threw up his hands in despair and returned to the kitchen to make more popcorn.

Almost ten minutes had passed since Robin's announcement and Wally was anxiously waiting to start the movie.

"Recognized: Green Arrow: 08, Artemis: B-08, Black Canary: 10."

"I told you we were going to be late, everyone else is already here!" Green Arrow shouted angrily at Black Canary as they ran into the common room. "You haven't started it yet, have you?"

"Relax GA, you're right on time. Popcorn?" Green Arrow took a bowl of popcorn from the little bird and dragged Black Canary over to find a seat before she had a chance to take the bowl of popcorn offered to her.

Artemis followed, glaring at Roy the entire time. She was sure to sit close to Green Arrow, just to see the look of jealousy and rage on the other archer's face. She smirked evilly at Roy until Black Canary whacked her upside the head.

"Looks like everyone is here, might as well get it started." Robin stated as he emerged from the kitchen with his last batch of popcorn.

"Finally!" Wally called from his position smooshed between Roy and Conner.

"Recognized: Superman 01."

"Wait, hold the movie!" Everyone looked up in shock as the Big Blue Boy scout ran into the room.

Conner gave a shout of surprise and Superman gave him a friendly wave. "Hey Conner." All differences with his clone had been forgotten in eager anticipation of the movie.

Conner gaped and everyone else's jaws hit the floor.

"Are we going to start this thing?" The Kryptonian asked as he joined the ranks of costumed heroes eagerly waiting the start of the movie.

"Yeah." Wally was shaken out of his surprise. "Everyone ready?" Numerous heads nodded vigorously. Robin killed the lights and Wally started the movie.

Batman was the last to arrive, he had planned it that way so that while everyone was surprised with Superman's arrival he could sneak in quietly. He smirked as he dug into the bowl of popcorn that Robin had left out for him and watched the movie silently from the shadows. Though he would deny it with every fiber of his being, he secretly loved Charlie Brown.

**A/N Yay for crack!fics! This was so much fun to write, so I hope you guys enjoy it half as much as I did :D**

Part 2: Trick-or-treating

The movie was over and most of the League had returned home. Only Batman, Green Arrow, Flash, and Black Canary were left.

The teens were still in the common room, trying to explain the customs of Halloween that they had seen in the movie to a very lost Martian, a clueless Kryptonian clone, and sea-dwelling Atlantian.

"You see, every Halloween kids from all over Earth dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating." Robin patiently explained to the three. "Trick-or-treating is a tradition that originated in the middle ages of England and Scotland but has only been practiced here in America since 1950. Every year kids dress up in costume and go from door-to-door requesting candy with the question of 'trick-or-treat?' The question is a choice posed to the owner of the house, treat is for candy, trick is for mischief. Though the mischief is ignored, for the most part, in this culture."

"Yeah, fascinating Rob." Said Wally sarcastically. "It would be a lot more fun to show them instead of making them sit through a boring history lecture about a night that's supposed to be fun."

Robin grumbled at this.

"Oh, could we! I would love to learn the significance of the rock in the candy. Must one always say 'I got a rock' after they visit a house?"

"That was just humour, beautiful. You don't have to say it."

"Oh." The Martian blushed.

"You guys in?" Wally asked the rest of the team.

Kaldur and Conner nodded their heads and Robin hi-fived Artemis. "We're in." The acrobat chuckled.

They all started for the door.

"Wait, shouldn't we tell someone we're leaving?" Megan asked.

"Good idea. We're going trick-or-treating, we have our com units on, and we'll be back before midnight." Robin called to the seemingly empty mountain; the team would not be surprised at all if Batman wasn't eavesdropping on their conversation from some unseen place. "That's taken care of. Ready?"

The team nodded.

"But wait, we need costumes!" Wally called, halting the headlong dash for the door.

"Duh Kid Idiot, we'll go in our uniforms." Artemis quipped as she slung her bow across her shoulders. "Though we will need something to carry the candy in."

"I got plastic pumpkins that might work." Robin hollered over his shoulder as he dashed off for his room.

He returned a few minutes later with six plastic pumpkin candy holders.

"Why did you have plastic pumpkins in your- wait, never mind, I don't want to know." Artemis said, taking the offered pumpkin.

The teens eagerly took to the streets of Happy Harbour, ready for a night of Halloween fun.

After three houses Megan and Kaldur had picked up the concept of trick-or-treating and were enthusiastically joining in. No one seemed to mind that they were of the only teens out enjoying a children's sport. Instead, they enjoyed comparing finds and trading with each other for their favourite sweets. After nearly two hours their pumpkins were almost full.

Conner was the only one not having fun, or at least that's what the team thought. They were proven wrong when he stopped and peered into his orange pumpkin. "I got a rock." He said, the hint of a smile passing across his face.

**A/N So there's the Halloween fic :) Hopefully you all have seen 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' otherwise the ending might not make sense. **

**So guess what folks? I am successfully on my tenth concussion! Yeah, last night I managed to get hit on the head with a pitcher while I was trying to reach something on the top shelf. The pitcher shattered on contact and I was knocked partially unconscious. So one very worried car trip and an ER visit later I was informed that I've concussed myself, again. I have been branded accident prone by my doctor at this point. Good news is that I have a hard head so the concussion is minor, certainly not at the level of the stuff that we put in our stories. But I'm kind of out of it right now. **

**I wrote part 1 of this story before the concussion but part 2 was written after.**

**Anyway, I will upload what I have written so far but it may be a while before my next update, it all depends on how I feel tomorrow. **

**I swear, at this rate I am going to end up with severe brain damage by the time I'm 30… **

**Sorry to dump that on you. I think I'm going to go find the ibuprofen now…**


	19. A Season to Be Thankful

A Season to Be Thankful

By

Angelina

"What is Thanksgiving?"

Robin looked up at the clone. Since they had rescued him from Cadmus Robin had become used to him asking random questions about culture. "It's a traditional American holiday that started in 1620 when the pilgrims settled Plymouth Rock. Back then they were new to this country and they had to work very hard to survive, so the first time they harvested their crops in the new land they threw a huge feast in thanksgiving to God that they survived to their first harvest. (1) Since then Thanksgiving has been observed on the fourth Thursday of every November. Why did you want to know?"

Conner looked a little sheepish. "Some kid at school was complaining about it."

Robin chuckled, that wasn't uncommon with the holiday. He was, however, curios as to why Cadmus had installed encyclopedic knowledge into Conner's head and then didn't leave anything in his mind about holidays. "Cadmus didn't teach you anything about holidays?"

"I guess it wasn't important enough for them to waste brain power on."

"That's too bad Supey; holidays can be a wonderful time for family." Robin neglected to mention that they also have a tendency to end in blood and tears.

"Why do we get school off for it?"

"It's so that family can spend time together, that and the teacher's unions would go nuts if they didn't get some time off for every national holiday." Robin went back to the file he was reading.

Conner shrugged and returned to staring blankly at a fuzzy television screen.

"You know Conner, Thanksgiving is tomorrow. We could do something for it, if you want too?"

The clone nodded eagerly.

"Alrighty then, we need to get moving, we've got a lot to do."

Conner cocked a confused eyebrow at him.

"Well, we need to go grocery shopping." Robin turned away from Superboy and began counting things off on his finger. "Hopefully there are turkeys left the day before Thanksgiving. We'll need stuff for cranberry relish, ingredients for pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, ingredients for stuffing, whip cream for the pie, biscuits, and apple cider."

"Why do we need so much?"

"You do know what a feast is, right?"

The clone nodded, glaring at the smaller boy.

"Since we're putting on a feast we'll need a lot of food. Plus KF is probably going to eat at least half of it." Robin wrote down everything they would need and grabbed his wallet. "Come on Supey."

Two hours later they emerged from the Happy Harbour Safeway (tempted to put Piggly Wiggly there, but some of you guys don't have it up north) laden with a shopping cart full of groceries.

"What are we going to do with all of this?" Conner asked on the way home, watching Robin protectively clutch a carton of eggs.

"We are going to cook a feast."

"You know how to cook?"

Robin blushed. "An older friend taught me." Alfred had been teaching him the fine art of cooking since Bruce had taken him in four year ago. He was certainly not at the same level as the English butler, but he was quite good.

The rest of the day was packed with cooking and preparing for the feast the next day. Robin quickly found that Conner was an awful cook, so he banished him to go hang decorations around the mountain, a task that the clone both enjoyed and was good at.

Both boys were tired by the time night showed her face.

Thanksgiving morning was filled with chaos as the main preparations for the feast were underway. Kaldur had discovered their plans and was eagerly helping Robin in the kitchen. It turned out the Atlantian was a pretty good cook. Wally had been enlisted to keep Megan away from the kitchen at all costs and Artemis was helping Conner with the decorations and setting the table.

Finally everything was done. A steaming turkey made the centerpiece on the kitchen table, which was adorned in a white tablecloth for the occasion. Platters of food surrounded the turkey and seven places were set for dinner. Garlands of fall leaves, pumpkins, and burgundy streamers were everywhere, turning Mount Justice into a Harvest wonderland.

Robin looked on the spread with pride and love. It wasn't like the ones he was used to at Wayne Manor. There was certainly less food than the feasts Alfred prepared. The table wasn't the grand dining table that sat in the extravagant dining room. The tablecloth wasn't the fine woven masterpiece that had come from India. The plates weren't the fine china that had been a gift from some ambassador. The utensils weren't the polished silver that had been passed down for generations. The decorations weren't the extravagant adornments that hung all over the manor. But even though everything was different than what he was used to, he was just as happy. He could care less how much he had, he was simply thankful that he had family to share it with.

Robin's mouth fell open when he realized that he hadn't taught Conner the most important part of Thanksgiving. He had only shown him the superficial part of the holiday. Thanksgiving was supposed to be about family and thankfulness for everything you had been blessed with.

His thoughts, however, were halted when Conner got up from the table and awkwardly cleared his throat. "I wanted to thank all of you. You guys freed me from a life of captivity; you took me in and taught me that I was much more than a weapon. You have been good teammates and amazing friends. Without you guys, I don't know what would have happened to me. I couldn't be more thankful to all of you for being my friends and my family."

The team gaped; they had never heard the clone talk so much ever before. Not only that, he was glad that they were his friends. It turned out the clone did have feelings.

Robin smiled widely on the inside; Conner had understood the meaning of Thanksgiving. And the clone appreciated his friendship!

After several minutes of silence Megan got up and hugged Conner, Wally and Robin quickly followed her example, and Kaldur was not far behind. Artemis was the only one not to join the group hug.

They all glared at her. "I don't do group hugs." The archer snorted dismissively.

"Get her!" Wally declared and the glob of superteens shuffled across the room, not breaking their hug as they pursued the fleeing Artemis throughout the mountain.

* * *

><p>Alternate Ending: (because I felt like adding something that wasn't so sappy)<p>

Batman smiled silently, watching from his private security cameras as the teens caught Artemis and ensnared her in the group hug. It was good that Richard had found such good friends, had found family.

"Dinner is served Master Bruce."

Batman peeled back his cowl, becoming Bruce Wayne, and trudged up the stairs after his butler.

"Will the young master be dining with us?"

Bruce shook his head.

"Very well sir."

Bruce sat down at the massive table that could easily seat twenty, his mood deflating as he saw only two places set. Thanksgiving just wasn't the same without Dick there, but he was happy for him, happy that he had friends and happy that he had Dick in his life. But he couldn't deny one thing as he sat with Alfred at the empty table:

He missed his son.

* * *

><p><strong>(1) I know some of you probably aren't Christians, I am one but others aren't. The reference was not meant to offend anyone it simply is the history of Thanksgiving. I apologize if it did offend anyone, that was not my intent in the least. It is simply part of my belief system, I am not trying to force it on anyone else. <strong>

**A/N All hail the sappy ending! So sappy that I wrote an alternate ending to help deal with the piles of goo that erupted all over my keyboard when I wrote the sappy ending. Yeah…**


	20. Christmas Party

Christmas Party

Starring the Justice League, Young Justice, Red Arrow, and an Annoyed Batman

By

Angelina

**A/N Sorry this took so long to update!**

"Deck the halls with boughs of Holly, falalalala lalalala. Tis the season to be jolly, falalalala lalalala. Don we now our gay apparel-"

"RICHARD JOHN GRAYSON!"

Dick flinched as Batman angrily hollered his name, he ceased his singing.

"What's rule number 27 of the Batcave?"

"No being merry in the Batcave."

"Yes, and what does rule number 16 say?"

"Absolutely no singing in the Batcave, yes Robin that means you." Dick quoted from memory.

"Very good. Now please explain to me why you are breaking two of the Batcave's rules."

Batman loomed angrily over the little bird as he tried to inch his way over to the elevator.

"Eesh Bruce, its Christmas. I am just in the holiday spirit."

Batman gave Dick a stern glare. "That still does not allow you to break two of the Batcave's rules. If you want to sing and be merry, go bother Alfred."

As soon as he was safely in the elevator, Dick stuck his tongue out at Batman. "Geeze Bruce, you're such a scrooge."

Dick wandered through the halls of Wayne Manor singing as loudly as he pleased. Alfred even joined him in a rousing chorus of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

It wasn't until Dick was helping the butler bake Christmas cookies that a brilliant idea struck him. "Hey Alfie, we should have a Christmas party!"

Alfred looked up from the dough he was rolling. "Whoever would we invite sir?"

"I was thinking we could throw a Christmas party at Mount Justice for the team and the League."

"That is a capital idea Master Dick; I assume that you wish to include Batman."

"Of course Alfie, just don't tell him that."

"I shan't breathe a word. Would you like me to cook for you?"

Dick leapt off of the counter and hugged the butler. "Thanks Alfie, you're the best!"

"Was there ever any question, sir?"

Dick stole some cookie dough and was off before Alfred could reprimand him for eating raw eggs. He quickly donned his uniform and stole through the Batcave to the Zeta Beam. "I'm off to Mount Justice. At least they let me sing Christmas Carols there! I'll be staying the night, don't wait up." He called through the Batcave, knowing full well that Bruce would hear him. He stepped into the beam and found himself a moment later in Mount Justice.

"Recognized: Robin: B-01"

Before he had time too fully step out of the beam Wally was on him. "Dude, I've been waiting for you for like ever!" He dramatically flailed his arms about as Robin pushed past him.

"KF, I need your help on a little project." The acrobat grinned mischievously.

"I know that grin. It's the 'I'm up to something that will make Batman furious' grin… I'm so in."

Robin laughed and clapped Wally on the back. "Great, here's the plan: I want to throw a Christmas party here for the League. Alfred has agreed to help me. We need decorations, invitations, and someone needs to keep Megan away from the kitchen so that Alfred can cook."

Before Wally could reply Robin had his com unit out. "Robin to Young Justice. I need everyone in the briefing room at Mount Justice in half an hour."

Thirty minutes later the Young Justice team was seated in the briefing room.

"Why are we here, on holiday? I could have been at the mall!" Artemis humphed, spinning her chair around for emphasis (yes Mount Justice has the spinning office chairs, because we all know that we love to spin in them).

"We have a mission!" Robin replied excitedly.

The team looked up at him in eager anticipation.

"Operation Christmas Party!"

The team's attitude deflated and they looked disappointed.

"That's a really lame name bro."

"Whatever Wally. We will be throwing a Christmas party for our team and the League here this evening. I need everyone's help to get this thing in order. Who's in?"

"Yeah, I have a lot of shopping to do, so no." Artemis got up.

"If you recall, Batman put me in charge of team bonding exercises and I'm am ordering this as a bonding exercise." Robin glared at the archer until she flinched, looked away, and quickly sat back down.

"Here the plan: Artemis and Kaldur, I need you two to go shopping. We'll need lots of decorations, lights, stuff for punch, anything Christmassy that you can think of. Megan and Conner: I need you two to pick up the mountain and then decorate it with what Artemis and Kaldur bring home. Wally, I need you to convince Roy to come."

"Not arrow boy!" Artemis interrupted. Robin glared her into silence again.

"Dude, I don't even know where he's staying right now." The speedster cut into Robin's glare-down of the female archer.

"Here's the address, his home phone number, his cell number, the frequency he normally keeps his com unit on, and his patrol schedule." Robin quickly scribbled everything down.

"Bats!" Wally mumbled as he took the paper, ignoring his best friend's glare. "So what will you be doing?"

"I'm going to hack into the Justice League system and send invitations to everyone's communication devices. I'll also compile a CD of Christmas music and a DVD with several movies on it. Can anyone think of anything else?"

"Food?" asked Conner.

"Agent A's got that covered." Robin waved dismissively, noticing disappointment flit across Megan's face. The team dispersed to their tasks.

Later that evening Robin inspected the mountain. His team had done an excellent job decorating it. The halls really were decked with boughs of holly, garlands hung from the ceilings, wreaths adorned every doorway, mistletoe was peeking out here and there, and Christmas lights cast the entire mountain in a wintery glow. Mount Justice had been transformed into a winter wonderland.

Robin and the rest of the team stepped back to admire their handiwork.

"Oh my gosh! We forgot the Christmas tree! We can't have a Christmas party without the Christmas tree." Robin cried suddenly, throwing his hands into the air.

Robin was well on his way to a full scale meltdown when Wally caught the little bird's face between his hands. "Robin! Relax, deep breaths."

Robin tried to breathe deeply as the speedster shook him. He calmed down after a few seconds.

"Better now?"

The young acrobat nodded.

"Good."

"But what will we do about the tree?"

"Relax, Roy said he was bringing it."

Robin Gibbs-slapped the teenage speedster. "You couldn't have told me that before I started freaking out?"

"You didn't really give me a chance." Wally danced out of the way before Robin could slap him again.

"_Recognized Speedy B-06_"

"It's Red Arrow! Doesn't anything work around here?"

"Roy!" Robin called enthusiastically.

"I brought your dang tree." The archer grumbled as he held out a five foot tall, scraggly Blue Spruce. The next second he was tackled to the ground by both Robin and Wally.

"It is great to see you again, Roy." Kaldur helped Roy back up.

Roy laughed and ruffled Robin and Wally's hair affectionately. "Let's get this party started!" he smiled to Kaldur and the Atlantian laughed.

With the seven teens working on it the tree was set up and decorated in record time. Just in time for the Justice League to start pouring in. Even Superman came.

"Alright, now we get Bats here." Robin smirked as he pulled out his communicator. He tossed it to Wally. "Tell him I'm having an allergic reaction to something I ate, that should get him here."

Wally nervously took the communicator and babbled out the message to an angry Batman. "Batman, sir, Robin is having an allergic reaction to something. He's passed out and I-I don't know what to do."

Batman gave the speedster his best DaddyBats-glare and it was all Wally could do to keep himself from fainting in fright. "Keep him breathing, I'm on my way."

The communicator shut off and Wally gulped, ignoring Robin's cackles. "I am so dead. He's going to kill me when he found out that I lied to him."

Roy clapped him on the shoulder. "You'll be fine; Bats will only maim you at the worst."

Wally groaned and sped off to hide behind his Uncle.

Roy and Robin laughed.

"_Recognized: Batman 0-2_"

"Show time!" muttered Robin to Roy and Alfred. The butler gave the little bird a cryptic look before bustling off with another platter of Christmas cookies.

The Dark Knight tore through the mountain looking for his son. After a frantic moment of searching he found the boy sitting with Roy and Conner, laughing at some funny story.

"I'm going to kill that speedster." Batman growled under his breath. It was then that he noticed the decorations in the mountain and the Christmas music playing in the background. Robin seemed to hear the gears turning in Batman's head from across the room and he turned to wink at his mentor. "That cheeky little-"

"I would be careful how you finish that sentence, Master Batman." Alfred popped up silently at his side.

Batman glared at his butler. "You wouldn't have anything to do with this, would you Alfred?"

"Me sir? Of course not, it was all Master Robin's idea. And a rather clever one at that." Alfred added the last sentence under his breath.

"I'll be in the Batcave should an actual emergency occur." Batman shook his head and turned to leave only to find his butler blocking the way.

"I think not sir. You are to enjoy the party and get in the spirit of the holiday. Eat some cookies, talk with the League, and be merry."

"The Batman is not _merry_." The glare that the caped crusader sent at Alfred would have been enough to whither the life of an entire planet but the butler stood firm, his mouth pressed together in a disapproving line.

"Master Robin put on this party for you and the rest of the League, you will stay and you will enjoy yourself and that is final." He turned to leave and Batman knew that there would be no arguing with the Englishman, and no place on Earth that he could hide if he disobeyed the butler. He scowled and found a nice corner to hide in. Alfred never said that he couldn't hide.

Christmas music floated gently through the mountain.

Alfred emerged from the kitchen laden with platters of treats. He was immediately attacked by Barry and Wally.

Dinah and Ollie were in a secluded corner, making out.

Red Tornado, the Green Lanterns, Hawkgirl, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman were currently watching the animated 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' as they sang along with the Whoos.

Wally and Artemis were seated next to each other on one of the couches as Artemis spied on her mentor and Wally stuffed his face full of Alfred's treats. Roy snuck up behind them and hung mistletoe over their heads. Wally quickly took the invitation to dip the archer and plant a loud kiss on her lips. As soon as it was over he dropped her and ran off laughing as she turned a brilliant shade of scarlet. Roy quickly chucked the mistletoe at a passing Aqualad, where it stuck to the Atlantian's waterbearers, before he ran away in haste. Artemis wasn't sure which of the three boys to run after so she contented herself with sending three arrows full of knockout gas after all of them.

Robin took advantage of the ensuing chaos and superglued a Santa Clause hat to Conner's head. He flipped off into the rafters cackling as Conner leapt after him in pursuit, the little white fluff ball on the end of the hat streaking out behind the clone and ruining his tough-guy image.

Megan and Martian Manhunter were levitating above the party, eating Oreos and laughing at their friends.

Meanwhile, Superman had gone in search of Batman, who had not been seen since he frantically ran into Mount Justice almost two hours ago. His search ended after about an hour when he used his x-ray vision to find Batman behind a large indoor plant. He yanked the plant out of the way. "You can come out now. Really Batman, you should be enjoying the party. All of your friends are here and your son is having fun." Clark gestured towards the laughing Robin as ran past them, blowing a raspberry to someone behind him. Conner ran past them about two seconds later, the Santa hat still glued to his head. Superman shook his head; he didn't really want to know what that was about. The Kryptonian forced his mind back on track. "It's Christmas Batman, get into the spirit of the season, have some fun."

Batman glared at him.

"Well you can at least try being nice, I mean, it won't kill you." Superman pointed out with a wide smile.

"Bah humbug!" Batman grumbled.

**A/N Christmas fics are so much fun! I really enjoyed writing this. When Christmas time on comes around I am going to spam this sight with Christmas fics. I think I may try and do either 25 days of Christmas, or 12 days of Christmas series. Yeah…I don't really have much of a life, which is lucky for you guys as I can write a lot :D**

**I tried to incorporate several requests into this fic: **

**RinMakiato requested that I include Roy and the rest of the League. Roy was in there and most of the major players from the Justice League were included, I hoped that's what you wanted.**

**argent98 requested that I make Artemis and Wally kiss. I think I accomplished that ;) **

**Someone requested a Christmas party somewhere, but I can't find it, so you know who you are!**

**So guess what, everyone? This is chapter number twenty! YAY! *copious amounts of confetti* I can't believe how much interest I've had in this story, I'll keep it going as long as there is an interest!**

**Yeah… Next chapter will be the third installment of Camping Trip!**


	21. Camping Trip: Take 3

Camping Trip: Take 3

By

Angelina

**Rated: K+**

It was the first time that Batman had ever been camping. Bruce Wayne had taken Richard camping usually twice a year, but Batman had never gone before. And now he was stuck here, in the middle of God knows where, with the whole Justice League. Why, oh why did that stupid miniature Flash have to open his big mouth? Stupid Flash family.

He had tried everything to get out of it, even going as far as to stage a robbery in Gotham. But Alfred had caught wind of his schemes and had forbid him to skip the trip. Stupid English butlers.

The peeved vigilante looked on as Superman set up a tent. They had only brought three tents, one for the women, one for the men, and one for the sideki- erm… partners. He eyed the canvas contraption dubiously. "Will that fit all of us?"

"Sure it will, sleeps fifteen." Superman replied, driving the last stake a little too hard into the ground. He chuckled nervously as he observed the hole he made.

"There's sixteen men here."

"We'll make it work." Flash threw his arm over Batman's shoulder in a friendly gesture. "But if it's a little small you can always bunk with me." He smiled widely. Curse the cheerfulness of the speedster.

Batman shot him his best Bat-glare and Flash's smile disappeared rapidly, the speedster suddenly took an interest in a nearby squirrel and ran off at top speed.

"I'm not sleeping in there." He growled.

"Lighten up Batman, it's only for a night."

Batman shot the Big Blue Boy Scout a withering look. "Whatever, smurf." He stalked off.

The campsite was set up in record time thanks to the participation of several speedsters, which meant that there was lots of time for 'family activities.'

First off was the Scavenger Hunt. From what he was told the activity had been Superman's idea, he never liked that man.

Instead of traipsing off into the forest like all the other idiots there, Batman found a nice tree to perch in. After a few minutes he was resting comfortably and had slipped into a light slumber. He was disturbed fifteen minutes later by screaming. He looked up just in time to see Flash and Kid Flash running away from an angry cloud of Hornets. Batman smiled for the first time that day and went back to sleep.

After the Scavenger Hunt, Wonder Woman voted for capture the flag. The rest of the League quickly agreed and again Batman found himself in another game that he didn't want to play.

The heroes were quickly divided up into two sides and given ten minutes to hide their flags.

As soon as they yelled Go! Batman disappeared into the forest. The two sides spent nearly an hour looking for both flags before they found them tied to the top of the tallest pine tree in camp with Batman smirking at them from the uppermost boughs of said tree. (yes, Batman is awesome enough to steal both flags without anyone noticing)

"I think that's enough of capture the flag." Aquaman said after they had convinced Batman that he had won.

Flash suggested races for the next activity. Superman agreed despite Batman's protests that Flash would most likely cheat.

"Let's do sack races!" Hawkman suggested, pulling out several burlap sacks from the camping gear.

Everyone eagerly agreed and before Batman could protest Superman and Wonder Woman had him in a sack and up to the start line. The other heroes quickly took their places along the starting line, Superman on one side of him and Robin on the other

"On your mark…" smirked Green Arrow from the sideline. "Get set. GO!"

Everyone took off. Batman hopped neck-in neck with Superman, smiling as he watched Robin trip KF and take the lead. Superboy added too much strength to his jump and ended up tearing his sack and tumbling to the sideline, where he knocked over a peeved Green Arrow. Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Miss Martian, and both Green Lanterns were all flying towards the finish line, so Batman took the opportunity to whip out a handful of bat-a-rangs and knock them all out of the sky.

"You cheated Bats, no fair!" Captain Marvel wailed as he extracted himself from the mess of Hawkgirl and Hawkman's wings.

Batman smirked and kept hopping. He threw a few caltrops behind him and both Aqualad and Aquaman were tripped up, falling in a heap to the field.

Now Robin was in the lead, followed by Batman and Superman (still neck-to-neck). Flash was still stuck at the starting line. "How do you run in these things?" He hollered, attempting to run only to be tripped up by the sack.

"Hop you idiot!" roared Batman.

Flash made one superspeed hop forward, slipped, and fell on his rear. Batman smirked.

Superman was gaining on Robin, and in a last ditch effort to make sure his son won, Batman launched himself at the Kryptonian and tripped him up. Robin hopped across the finish line with a huge smile on his face and a triumphant cackle, Batman came in second and gave his partner a small smile. Robin beamed.

No one else crossed the finish line as they were all trying to get off of the ground and out of the sacks.

Superman scowled at the Dark Knight disapprovingly. "You cheated, Batman."

"You said that powers were allowed, I used mine."

"But you don't have any!" Flash wailed.

"Exactly." Batman smirked and patted his utility belt.

After that Superman decided that games might not have been the wisest idea, and so he announced that it was time for a campfire. In a few minutes the heroes had a large fire lit and soon the Justice League was crowded around it. Only Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian hung back, frowning at the flames.

Captain Marvel suggested that they sing campfire songs and soon the entire Justice League broke out in song. Batman scowled from his place at the back of the group and slipped a pair of earplugs into his ears. After three songs the Dark Knight found an opportunity to slip away, disappearing into the shadow of a nearby tree.

Several more songs passed before they broke out the marshmallows. Most of the heroes caught theirs on fire, but he was proud to see that Robin made sure his was evenly golden on all sides, that was the OCD partner he had trained!

After an hour Robin snick away from the group without anyone noticing and appeared at Batman's side in an instant. "Brought you some marshmallows." He held forth a bowl of golden marshmallows. Batman picked on up and popped it into his mouth, looking down approvingly at his son.

He pulled another marshmallow from the bowl, but before he could consume it he noticed that it was a slight shade browner on one side than the other. He glared at it for at least a minute.

"Eesh Bruce, just eat the darn thing, it's not that different." Robin faceplamed.

Batman glared at him and ate the marshmallow, yep that little bit of extra browning on the one side had altered the taste. He would have to train Robin how to properly roast a marshmallow again, his little bird was getting sloppy with the art.

Robin groaned at Batman's disapproving scowl and flipped off with a cackle, startling the entire Justice League as he suddenly appeared back in their group.

Many campfire stories later the tired heroes decided it was time for bed.

"Hiya Bats! We're getting ready to hit the hay, my offer for bunking together still stands." Flash beamed and waved as he walked past the hero. Batman really did not like that man, he was always so cheerful. Curse his cheerfulness.

"I took the liberty of rolling out your sleeping bag for you." Superman gave him a pointed look that clearly warned Batman to sleep in the tent, or else. He would love to see the Big Blue Boy Scout try and carry out that threat. If he did, Batman had a Kryptonite ring with his name on it.

Several of the kid heroes ran by yelling and whooping. Batman cringed and frowned, he really hated the world. Robin ran by next, cackling maniacally as he held Aqualad's water bearers high and waved them annoyingly under the angry Atlantian's nose. Batman smiled, he didn't hate all the world.

He retired to a cramped tent. After an hour of Hawkman farting, Superman snoring, Captain Marvel talking in his sleep, and Flash rolling over onto him, Batman decided he had had enough. He stole out of the tent silently and crept through the trees to the Batwing, there was a nice medical bed that he could sleep on.

He climbed aboard only to find Robin already sleeping soundly on the medical bed, the little twerp. The Caped Crusader groaned heavily before gently covering his partner up with a spare blanket. He crawled into the pilots chair and wrapped his cape around him, dreading what the next morning of camping would bring. He had heard Superman talking about a hiking trip up the mountain for the entire League and a bird watching expedition. Batman did not want to be around for those.

He was plotting a devious way to get out of the activities when a brilliant idea hit him. He started the Batwing, sighing in relief when he didn't wake Robin with the engine's noise, and took off into the night sky.

He smiled slightly as the Batwing flew over the forest; he had escaped the camping trip. Alfred had made him promise that he would attend the camping trip; he never said he had to stay for it all. He was never doing something like this again. This time next year he would be sure to take Richard fishing. Yeah, fishing sounded nice.

**A/N Well that was meant to be OOC and incredibly stupid. I tried to do a Batman POV for the camping trip, I hope you liked it. I think I like my other two camping stories better than this one; this one seemed a little disjointed. **

**After I wrote this story I was in the mood for camping food, so I made Charlie drive to the store and get me a bag of Marshmallows. Then Charlie, the twins, and I spent an hour roasting marshmallows over a candle :D**

**Completely unrelated to my story, but, I am getting spammed by colleges! Just took the SAT and signed up with the College Board and I have gotten 36 emails, 9 letters, and 3 phone calls in five days! I didn't know picking a college would be this hard. Stupid Senior year! The whole point of writing that is to say that I am going on a college road trip this Sunday and will be gone all week so I probably won't update during then. **

**Well, now that I have that out of my system. What would you guys be interested in seeing next? Hurt/Comfort, drabble, sentimental fluff, a crack fic involving a road trip, or should I finish some challenges that I have? I would stick Robin torture in there but I have no idea what to write for that currently. Unless I completely re-wrote Detective Comics 374 (Hunt for a Robin Killer), which might not be a bad idea, but then again, it was a 1960's issue (not very campy though). What do you guys think?**


	22. Access Denied

Access Denied

By

Angelina

**A/N Well, I'm back from my College road trip! I saw a college that I think I will be going to, YAY! Anyway, I wrote this on the road and I don't really feel like re-writing it. So this is what happens when I am on the road for ten hours a day with at least three cups of coffee, driving through the mountains, and eating several packs of sour gummy worms while singing Veggie Tales. Yeah, me and road trips are interesting things to put together.**

**This was inspired by Evilfuzz's 'Access Denied' on Deviantart. http:/evilfuzz. deviantart. com/art /Access-Denied- 262545943 (spaces removed)**

* * *

><p>Robin typed away furiously, another firewall crashing under his expert fingers. <em>Arg! This is taking too long! <em>

The young hacker had spent the last ten minutes trying to get into this computer, which just so happened to hold the key information for the latest Cadmus project. He knew he was putting his team in jeopardy by taking so long but the League needed the information and he was hacking as fast as he could. He cursed silently, some bimbo decided to up the security level after his last visit to the company. Why couldn't they just keep their old security systems? That would make life so much easier.

_Come on, come one! Uhg! Why can't you go any faster! Wait, got it! Just a few more keystrokes…_

Suddenly a force slammed into his back, knocking him forward. It took a full second for Robin's brain to figure out what had happened. A rough hand clamped around his mouth, muffling the pain filled scream that erupted from the Boy Wonder's lips. His eyes went wide with agony and flitted down to see a lance about two inches in diameter protruding from his chest, his crimson blood dripping from the tip.

"Access denied, Bat Brat." _Sportsmaster_… _crap_.

The hand released him and the lance was pulled slowly from his back. With nothing to hold him up, Robin crumbled to the ground, grimacing when his landing jarred the wound. Blood spilled forth from the two inch hole in his chest to pool around his small form.

Sportsmaster loomed over the fallen bird, the bloody lance gripped in his hand. He sneered evilly before bringing his foot down on the hole in Robin's chest, cruelly crushing the boy's ribs. Robin gave a strangled gurgling noise as blood flowed from his mouth. Sportsmaster brought the bloody lance up again, his foot keeping the squirming acrobat in place. "Tell Batman I send my regards."

Just before Sportsmaster brought down the lance, in what would surely have been a killing blow, Robin managed to extract an electric buzzer from his utility belt. He clapped it against the leg pushing into his chest and smiled inwardly when Sportsmaster gave a cry of pain and fell off of him, breaking the lance in the process.

Before the villain could re-gain his feet Robin had his wrist-computer out. He pulled up the buildings security system and hit a red button on the screen. All over the base Klaxons began blaring, red lights flashed, and an automated voice instructed the evacuation of the building.

Sportsmaster stood and threw the worthless pieces of lance away from him. He advanced towards Robin, the little bird tried to scramble backwards on his elbows but he kept slipping in his own blood. The villain was almost on him when Robin finally gave up escape attempts and lay back in defeat.

The sound of Superboy's arrival could be heard over the cacophony of the security system. Sportsmaster looked from the little bird lying on the floor, surrounded by blood, and gasping for air to an enraged Superboy. The villain faded into the shadows. "Until next time, Robin."

Robin gave a mirthless laugh and let his head fall back to the floor with a dull thud, his eyes slipping closed.

* * *

><p>Kid Flash watched anxiously as Kaldur tried to revive an unconscious Megan. The Martian had taken a hit with one of the energy weapons the guards were sporting. Luckily it hadn't killed her, but she was still not responding to anything they had tried.<p>

"I hear more guards coming!" Superboy called.

"Robin better hurry up." The speedster grumbled.

The team looked uncertain of what to do until Kaldur spoke up. "I need to get Megan out of here. Superboy, Kid Flash: find Robin. Artemis: come with me." The leader instructed, scooping up the unconscious Martian and jogging for the exit, Artemis on his heels with an arrow nocked to her bow.

Kid Flash and Superboy, who had recently acquired superspeed, dashed off in search of their youngest teammate. Suddenly Klaxons began blaring, red lights flashed obnoxiously, and an automated voice gave orders for evacuation.

Superboy swore loudly and Kid Flash reached for his ear, activating his com unit. "Robin, dude, the alarms are going crazy."

No one answered.

"Robin! Robin, come in. ROBIN! D*** it Boy Wonder, you'd better be alright."

No one answered.

The speedster looked over to Superboy, concern etched into his face.

The clone immediately stopped and a look of intense concentration crossed his face before he took off at full speed, calling over his shoulder to Kid Flash. "This way, hurry!"

Kid Flash took off after the clone, arriving in time to see Superboy charge after a fleeing Sportsmaster. But what caught his attention more than anything was the small, unmoving figure lying limply on the floor, wreathed in a puddle of scarlet blood.

No! Oh please God, no. Come on Rob, you better not be dead!

The speedster skidded to a halt and fell to his knees in the pool of blood. He reached out towards his best friend, but his hand stopped as he saw the gaping hole in the boy's chest. Experience told him that had probably hit an artery and punctured a lung. He looked away, scared that his friend was dead.

"He got away!" The sound of Superboy barreling back into the room snapped Kid Flash out of his state of disbelief and the speedster began scrambling at Robin's neck for a pulse. After a few terrifying seconds he felt a weak pulse beneath his fingers. He sighed with relief and turned his attention to the gaping hole in his best friend's chest. Superboy was now kneeling on Robin's other side, staring in horror at the limp body of his teammate and friend.

"Superboy, I need you to put pressure on his wound." Kid Flash guided the clone's hands to the wound and nodded in satisfaction when Superboy applied the right amount of pressure. Robin didn't even flinch.

"KF to Aqualad."

"Kid Flash, what is the matter?"

"Robin's hurt, bad."

"Get him out as soon as possible; I will have the ship prepared."

"Ok, KF out."

Kid Flash turned back to his best friend. The kid was sheet white, his face a deathly pale that only highlighted the crimson blood leaking from his mouth all the more. "What did you get yourself into this time, Rob?" he mumbled quietly as he started to inch his arms underneath the boy's legs and back. He was stopped by a blood covered hand.

"I'm stronger."

Kid Flash considered this for a moment before nodding and allowing Superboy to take his best friend from his arms. As soon as the clone had Robin securely in his clutches he took off, sprinting for the ship as fast as he could, the speedster right on his heels.

* * *

><p>Robin cracked his eyes open slightly, the bright white lights hurt his sensitive orbs. He could feel himself moving, someone was shouting out orders above him and he tried to ask them to keep the noise down but he couldn't get his tongue to work. He didn't know where he was or what was going on, all he knew was the intense pain he was in and the overwhelming fear that was clutching him in its icy grip.<p>

Suddenly someone seized his hand and held it tightly. "Shh, everything is going to be alright."

The voice was gentle and so familiar. Robin let his eyes slip closed as he listened to its comforting tones.

* * *

><p>Bruce stared down silently at his comatose ward. The boy had been sleeping for nearly four days now. He had woken once, right before surgery, but since then he hadn't stirred.<p>

The billionaire silently cursed Sportsmaster for the 431st time (yes he kept count). The first chance he got he was going to beat that man to a pulp. In fact, he wanted desperately to be out searching for the worthless piece of trash, but the still form of his son stopped him. His plans of revenge would be put on hold until he knew that Richard would be alright.

And so his vigil progressed; hours upon hours of sitting, praying that his son would alright, that it was not a mistake to let him be Robin.

Midnight was nearing and sleep was beginning to creep up on Bruce. The man stretched and stood stiffly from his straight-backed chair. He headed toward the door to the infirmary, where he knew Wally would be waiting; he would make the kid get him some coffee.

Just as his hand wearily fell on the cold metal doorknob he was stopped by an increased beeping noise as Dick's heart monitor sped up. At a speed that would have almost made Flash proud, Bruce was at Dick's bedside. He held one of the boy's small hands in his own. "Richard. Dick. Come one Dickie. It's time to wake up now."

It took Dick almost a full minute to get his eyes open; to Bruce it felt like whole lifetimes. Finally the little bird's crystal blue orbs were blinking up at his mentor.

The older man breathed a sigh of relief, squeezing the boy's hand. With his free hand, he gently stroked the black bangs from Dick's forehead, whispering reassurances as the boy struggled to come out of his drug induced fog. The two stayed like that for several minutes before recognition flashed across Dick's face. A small hand reached for his chest, where his lung had collapsed.

Bruce caught hold of it and placed it back beneath the thin blanket that covered the boy. "Easy Dick, don't try moving too much yet. How do you feel?" _I_ _was_ _worried_.

Dick glared at his mentor. "How ya… thin' I feel?" _I'll_ _be_ _fine_.

Bruce gave a small chuckle before Batman crossed his features, his tone almost harsh as he berated the injured boy. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" _I_ _love_ _you_.

Dick grinned like an idiot. "Ya' said… tha'… las' ime." _I_ _know_.

Bruce's eyes narrowed "Good Lord Dick! How many times will I have to say it before you get it through that thick skull of yours?" _I'm glad you're alright_.

The boy laughed slightly before wincing at the pain that the action sent lancing through his chest.

Bruce's features softened and he reached out to resume stroking the boy's hair. After a few moments Dick had calmed down and Bruce withdrew his hand, standing up as he did so. "The rest of the team has been asking about you."

Dick gave a small smirk; Bruce had likely banned them from entering his sick room. The man was intensely protective and he wouldn't even let his teammates visit him when he was injured.

"I imagine they would like to see you."

Dick nodded and Bruce turned for the door.

"D-dad."

The hand that was clutching the cold metal doorknob faltered and Bruce looked over his shoulder at his son.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Bruce smiled softly. "You're welcome."

* * *

><p><strong>AN The italics is the last part of the story was Bat-speak for anyone who was confused. Yeah… **

**The Megan/Conner relationship is really getting annoying. I kind of liked it when Megan was flirting with Conner and Conner had no clue what was happening but their relationship is getting steadily more annoying, I am now wishing that it will all blow up. Sorry if there are Supermartian fans out there, but I am really annoyed with the relationship, it is so one dimensional and they don't even have a reason for feeling so strongly towards one another. Completely unrelated to my story but I needed to vent. **

**Anyway, I hope you alls have been reading my author's notes as this is where I let you have a say in the next chapter. For the next installments I want to open this up for requests. Leave a request in a review or private message and if I like it I will attempt to write it. The first one I actually owe to ProtectorKorii from way back in chapter 13, yeah I finally got around to that. **

**So to summarize: I really don't like SuperMartian; I will be opening up the next few chapters to requests, just leave me your idea in a review or PM; and the next chapter will be ProtectorKorii's request from chapter 13 (unless my muse decides it wants to chase butterflies instead of writing, in which case you will get whatever ridiculous story I come up with after at least three cups of coffee. Hooray for caffeine!) **

**Completely off topic question: who do you think would win in a battle a fighting skill alone: Chuck Norris or Batman? (Batman would be fighting without his utility belt)**


	23. Memories

Memories

By

Angelina

Dick sat in the dimness of the cave, the shadows almost swallowing him whole. His back rested against a cylindrical glass case that displayed a black and red uniform. In his hands he held a small wooden box full of pictures from years long gone.

He pulled them out one by one, the memories behind each of them coming back to him.

The first was a picture of his first birthday at Wayne Manor. Bruce stood smiling beside him as he blew out the nine candles on his Superman themed cake.

It had taken a lot of convincing before Bruce had finally agreed to get him that cake.

Bruce, he hadn't spoken to the man in years, choosing to forget about the fact that Bruce had been the father he so desperately needed. No, he was done with Bruce Wayne; he had moved on, the man would no longer be considered a father. He had forfeited that right long ago.

Dick let the picture fall from his fingers, reaching in and taking out another to replace it.

This one was the first picture of Batman and Robin together. Alfred had taken it the night that Robin would make his first flight.

He paused for a moment and looked up at another display case in the room, this one housing a bright green and red costume with a canary yellow cape. He had designed it himself and Bruce had even let him get away with the bright colours, but only after he had given him his best puppy dog eyes.

His eyes hardened, Batman had found other Robins, had replaced him. It was better to forget that he had ever worked with the man.

Dick laid the picture aside and pulled out another.

The smiling faces of his parents gazed up at him; this was the only picture he had of them.

A tear leaked from his face as he thought of the brief time they had had to spend together and of their death. The picture was quickly discarded before more tears could come.

Another picture came out, this one of Alfred busy at work in the Manor. Dick had snapped the picture of the butler when the old man had been unawares; it was considered the favourite picture of Alfred as none of the others truly captured the man's essence like this one did.

Alfred, he missed the man he had come to love as a grandfather. Nothing had been the same after he died. (1)

The picture floated to the floor as another was withdrawn from the box.

This one was of himself, Wally, and Roy on a fishing trip. Wally was smiling the most ridiculous smile as he held up a large trout; he was standing next to him holding up a fish almost as big as himself; and Roy was standing behind the two with a scowl on his face as he glared at the minnow in his hand.

That had been a fun trip. They were certainly a terrible trio, driving their parental figures to the brink of insanity with their crazy stunts.

They had been best friends. But as time wears on friendships are stretched, and broken. The three had slowly drifted apart until they saw no more of each other.

The picture lingered in his open palm for a moment before he tipped the hand and allowed the picture to flutter to the ground to join the others.

The next picture he pulled was of the Young Justice team.

It was the first time they had all gone to the beach together. Artemis was in a green bikini holding Wally in a headlock as he gave a goofy smile and thumbs up to the camera. Kaldur was standing directly behind the two in a graceful pose with a small smile playing across his features. Conner was standing next to a smirking Robin, only smiling when Robin poked him in a certain ticklish spot that Wally had found when trying to annoy the clone months earlier. Megan was floating above the group in an attractive yellow swimsuit with a beach ball under her arm.

Dick smiled sadly. The team had been such a wonderful thing for him. But of course it had come to a disastrous end.

Megan had died on a mission in China; apparently Martians don't deal well with fire. Shortly after that Kaldur left to take care of things in Atlantis when Aquaman had died.

Robin had stepped up and taken over leadership, but the team was down two players and it wasn't long before they lost another. The League of Shadows finally tracked down Artemis and dragged her off, they spent years looking for you, but no trace ever turned up of her. They had given up.

After that Superboy quit being a super altogether and went back to the farm. Dick hadn't spoken to the clone in nearly five years.

He and Wally kept working together until the speedster returned to Central to take over the Flash position after Barry died. They started seeing each other less and less, slowly drifting apart, until finally they stopped seeing each other at all. Dick still kept tabs on his one-time best friend, but he never actually took the time to really see how he was doing, and neither did Wally.

He rifled through more pictures. There were ones of the Young Justice teams engaged in various teenage activities and stupid stunts that were funny at the time; there were pictures of Justice League meetings and parties, clippings of newspaper articles about the cases they had helped on, pictures of Bruce and Batman, pictures of various places around the world that Dick had visited as Robin. And even a framed picture of the first time that the team had ever seen the Watchtower.

He smiled sadly and let the pictures fall back into the box. He closed the lid, locking the pictures and memories away, and pushed the box under the glass case that held his Young Justice Robin costume.

Dick stood and looked around the room one last time, looked at all of the memories that he had placed there. And then he turned away, shutting off the lights, shrouding all of the memories in darkness. The only light in the room came from an open door.

Without a backward glance Dick strode away from his memories, his childhood, his team, his family and walked towards the light of a new life. He closed the door silently behind him, throwing a complete and utter darkness over everything. A darkness that would doubtless be disturbed ever again.

Epilogue:

A door opened, throwing a small shaft of light into the dark expanse of the room. Lights were slowly flipped back on, after all these years the man was surprised that they even still worked.

He hobbled over to a display case, leaning heavily on his cane. Finally there, he let his hand fall on the glass, brushing away the dust that had accumulated over the many decades. Beneath the layers of filth lay the old uniform, in the same condition as the day he had stopped wearing it. The man allowed a crooked smile to light up his face, tracing the outline of the domino mask.

He slowly crouched, cursing his joints, until he was seated with his back against the glass. Two wrinkled, shaking hands reached into a small space beneath the case and withdrew an old wooden box. Again he brushed off the layers of dust that had accumulated since he had left it there all those years ago. Slowly he opened the lid, the faded smiles of memories long past looked back at him. He ran his fingers over them, stopping on each one as the memories long forgotten came back to him. He gave a dry chuckle. "I'm home."

**(1) The day DC kills off Alfred is the day I set fire to their offices. Yeah, you better not even be thinking about touching Alfred! Do you hear me DC! Well of course you don't because you haven't bothered to answer any of the letters of concern that I have sent to you for the past six years! **

**Yeah, sorry. DC has come close to killing off many of the characters I loved (like Dick) way too many times. I get defensive of my favourite characters. Although I doubt they will kill off Alfred since he seems to have such positive reception. **

**I am really mad about this Robin/Zatanna thing. We already have a really one-dimensional relationship with Conner/Megan and a very implied one with Artemis/Wally. It's like CN is bringing in all of these relationships just to add unneeded drama! I mean, why do they like each other so much? What are their reasons for being so strongly attracted? I really am getting mad about all the romance at this point; the whole team can't be dating each other. And what about Dick/Babs? That's at least somewhat canon, but I forgot, CN doesn't like to go with the canon (though I'm not complaining about them adding Dick instead of Tim, but it's still kind of confusing). Anyway, another venting session, sorry. **

**I know I promised that I would be posting requests next but this plot bunny developed while I was writing ProtectorKorii's request and my muse wanted to run with it, so you get a filler chapter. I promise that next chapter will start the requests.**


	24. Little Bird

Little Bird

By

Angelina

It was raining in Gotham. Something bad always seemed to happen when it was raining in Gotham, and today was no exception.

Batman stood moodily atop a roof, watching a shady club (in Gotham what club isn't shady?). A new gang was reportedly using the club as a hideout and as a result the vigilante had been standing out here for hours in the freezing rain gathering all the intel he could while freezing rear off, stakeouts sucked. He made a mental note to see if Alfred could waterproof the Bat-suit.

Another half an hour passed and Batman began to grow impatient. Batman was never impatient, until it came to Robin, his partner. He had taken the boy out with him tonight even though he had a calculus test in the morning. Dick had begged him until Bruce had given in, it was always nice to have some company on such a dismal night. And plus, it was a stakeout, nothing bad ever happened on a stakeout.

But Robin was supposed to have checked in ten minutes ago and Batman was getting worried. Dire situations whirled through his mind as Batman thought of what could have befallen his young partner that would keep him from calling in. Riddler could have kidnapped him, Two Face could have beaten him, Joker could have shot him. No, Batman told himself, Robin was quite capable as a crime-fighter, he would be fine.

Still, this _was_ Gotham and that in and of itself was enough to make any father worried. He reached for his communicator but stopped himself as his hand landed on it; no, he would give Robin five more minutes.

Time seemed to pass excruciatingly slow for the vigilante. Seconds turned in to hours and minutes into days, damn theory of relativity!

Four minutes and four seconds had passed when Batman's communicator finally crackled to life. The Dark Knight breathed a sigh of relief.

"B-batman… help."

His relief had come too soon.

Without a second thought Batman launched himself into the night after his partner. The tracer that Alfred had built into the Robin costume led Batman almost half a mile from where Robin was supposed to be.

Upon reaching the street where the tracer led him Batman was greeted with a sight that he had seen all too often in Gotham, but a sight he had never wanted to see Robin in. The young boy was lying on his side in the shadows of the narrow alleyway. The rain drenched him and washed away the blood that was slowly leaking from a gash in his side, creating a trail of crimson that lapped at Batman's feet.

Faster than humanly possible, Batman was at his partner's side. He gently rolled the boy over, checking for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there. His breathing was shallow and harsh and his face was a deathly pallor.

Batman's training forced its way through his concern and he began taking stock of Robin's injuries. Robin had a nasty gash an inch to the right of his left temple and a six inch long gash in his side, though the gash was superficial at about one-quarter inch deep; most of his skin was marred a black and blue colour. He had a broken arm and his right leg was broken in at least four places. However, his internal injuries far outweighed his surface injuries. There were multiple broken ribs, five by Batman's count, and still others cracked and severely bruised. His sternum was broken, his spleen ruptured, there was significant damage to both of his kidneys, there was damage to his liver and several other organs were bleeding. Basically, Robin was beyond repair. There was no way to come back from injuries as severe and widespread as the boy's. Major organ failure was imminent. Respiratory and circulatory systems would collapse in less than fifteen minutes. Death would follow quickly.

Batman sat back in horror, his head in his hands as he tried to come to grips with what his mind was telling him. His mind told him that his partner wouldn't survive, but his heart willed his mind to be wrong, the internal battle causing the vigilante much more pain than any injury ever had.

He looked down at the still form of Robin, hating himself. He never should have taken Dick out, it was a school night and he had a test that he should be home studying for. He shouldn't have waited so long to go after Dick when he hadn't checked in. He shouldn't have given him those five extra minutes before pursuing his partner. He should have known something was wrong. He shouldn't have to be sitting here and staring at the closest thing he had to a son as he slowly expired in a dirty alleyway.

The rain increased as did the blame and dread in Batman's heart. Thunder boomed and lightning streaked across the sky, seeming to personify the innermost emotions of Gotham's Dark Knight.

He didn't know how long he sat there with his broken partner until the boy began to stir.

"B-br-bruce," his voice was breathy and almost non-existent as he gasped for air. Coughing, blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth. The sight snapped Batman out of his downward spiral of self-abhorrence.

"Shh Robin, Dickie, it's okay. Everything is going to be alright." Batman crooned to the boy as he gently took him into his arms.

Robin wasn't fooled by Batman's words. "I-I'm dying, are-aren't I B-batman."

Batman remained silent, but that was all Robin needed to confirm his fear. The boy inhaled sharply and tried to calm his fearful heart. But somehow, through all the pain and fear, Robin saw the turmoil in Batman's –Bruce's- masked eyes. "Not your f-fault."

Disbelieving eyes stared back at him.

"My choice to come out," Robin's voice became stronger as he willed himself onward. "My st-stupid idea to follow s-someone when you t-told me not to. My f-fault th-they got a j-jump on me. God, I'm s-such a f-failure."

"You're not a failure. You did good… I'm proud of you, son."

A small smile lit up Robin's face at the word son. "T-thanks dad."

The boy relaxed in Batman's arms, fighting to stay conscious. Several minutes later he began coughing again, spraying the bat insignia on Batman's chest with his crimson blood.

Batman held the boy, attempting to give him comfort through the action, he could do nothing else. He felt so helpless, so angry at himself and at the world that would take the life of one so young.

The rain began to lessen until it became a fine drizzle as behind the mask Dick's eyes slipped closed and his heart ceased working.

**A/N Dialogue was weak, oh well. **

**Okay, I know I promised that this chapter would start the requests, but I have a really good excuse. Earlier today I was outside watching a pretty little finch as he sat and chirped atop our fence post. He was so pretty, the brown plumage just starting to turn yellow and his voice was so sweet as he sat there and sang to the rising sun. He never saw Toothless, my cat, coming, and neither did I. Toothless pounced on him before he could get away. I immediately pulled the cat off of the finch, but I was too late. The poor little birdie was too badly injured. I tried to patch him up but most of the damage was internal, too much for me to fix. I held the poor finch until he died half an hour later. He was so small, I could easily fit him in the palm of my hand (my hands are tiny, so little birdie was about two inches in height) and his feathers were so soft; I wish I could have saved him. But that's life for you; everything must come to an end. **

**That put a huge plot bunny in my head that wouldn't go away…**

**Next chapter will hopefully start the requests, but I don't think I shall be promising as I have broken my promise twice.**

**Also, this past week a situation has finally come to a head for me. Though some mistakes in my work would lead to you to think otherwise, I have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). It's actually bad enough that I am on medication for it. In a recent visit to my psychologist I confessed that I have been having panic attacks. Turns out I have a panic disorder, yay… Both OCD and panic disorders are forms of anxiety disorders and they can make life difficult. So if you all wouldn't mind keeping me in your thoughts and prayers as I try and sort through the recent developments in the mess that is my mind, that would be immensely appreciated!**


	25. In the Dark of the Night

In the Dark of the Night

By

Angelina

The night was dark and still, a depressing gloom hung heavily over the city, swallowing it in its utter depravity. It was a normal night in Gotham.

Robin stood atop of Wayne Enterprises, standing guard over the city in Batman's absence. Behind him his team huddled in a small group, disturbed by the depressing gloom that was Gotham.

Normally Batman would never allow other heroes into Gotham, but tonight was an exception. Batman had been shot the previous week and Alfred had forced him to allow Robin to patrol the streets of Gotham whilst he recovered. Though, that had all been under the promise that should any dangerous criminals get loose he was to call in Young Justice.

And of course Joker had gotten loose. Not just gotten loose, but someone had paid the judge off to let him out of Arkham on parole. Batman had tried to take Robin off of the case when the news broke, but Robin had already called in Young Justice and before Bruce could protest, had left the Batcave to apprehend the madman (or would it be clown? He wasn't too sure on that). The catch was; since Joker was out on parole, Robin would have to catch him doing something incriminating. Given that the Joker couldn't last a week without going on a major crime spree, that shouldn't take too long.

Robin and the team spent a good day gathering clues and intel. The young acrobat had surprised the team with his level of manipulative skills when it came to getting information out of someone.

When everything had been put together it looked like Joker was planning to rob Wayne Enterprises on the day after a significant deposit of gold would have been left in the main office's vault.

So, Young Justice was waiting patiently for him on the roof of the Wayne enterprises skyscraper… ok, most of the team was waiting patiently, Wally was vibrating in place from his absolute inability to have even a modicum of patience.

The vigil lasted long into the night, hours passed slowly; Wally's fidgeting grew steadily worse.

Unable to wait any longer, Wally finally broke. "What are we waiting for?"

Robin stood with one foot on the ledge of the building, his cape billowing in the breeze, moonlight leaking through the smog, outlining his silhouette as he loomed over the city. "Dramatic effect."

"Dude, that's just stupid."

Robin sighed and glared at the speedster. "Like I told you an hour ago, and the hour before that, and the one before that, Kid Idiot, we have to wait until Joker does something incriminating. Otherwise we could be charged with false arrest."

"Oh." Wally really hated stakeouts.

Artemis took the opportunity to whack Kid Flash upside the head with her bow. Wally was about to retort when Robin cut in, never looking up from scanning the streets far below. "You know, missions like these usually rely on the observers' ability to be silent. If you two don't put a sock in it then I'll have to do that for you." He held up a small capsule of what they presumed to be knockout gas.

Robin returned to intently examining the streets below, but after a few minutes he broke the heavy silence. "Stop it you two!"

"What, I didn't say anything!" Artemis quipped sending a glare Wally's way, behind Robin's back.

"I can hear you glaring." The acrobat commented, his eyes still scanning the streets far below.

"Does he have eyes in the back of his head?" The archer whispered almost inaudibly under her breath to the Martian standing next to her.

"Why yes _he_ does." Robin turned and gave them a glare that almost rivaled the severity of his mentor's gaze.

Artemis' face flushed with colour. The rest of the team stole silent glances at the back of Robin's head as the young hero continued to survey the city below.

After five minutes they got bored and went back to quibbling silently among themselves.

Ten minutes later Robin finally moved from his position, checking his utility belt for the fifth time that night. "Show time. Joker just showed up with a van of henchmen, heat signatures indicate five men plus the clown. We should have cause to arrest him in five, four, three-"

_BANG_

Far below Joker blasted his way into the lobby of Wayne Enterprises.

"Huh, more eager than I thought. This should be fun." Robin turned to the rest of the group and gave the signal to attack before throwing himself off of the building.

"Robin!" Megan yelled in surprise, dashing to the side of the building.

Robin was almost half way down by the time the rest of the team joined the Martian gaping over the ledge at the falling figure of Robin, the kid's eerie laughter floating up to them. When he was two hundred feet from the ground he shot out his grappling hook and used it to slow his momentum, coming to a gentle stop five feet from the ground, he dropped silently to the dark street.

Megan levitated the others down behind him.

"Robin! That was reckless, I could have levitated you."

The acrobat shrugged off her concern with a laugh. "Link us up, Miss M."

"_Everyone's online. What's the plan?"_

Robin quickly pulled up the security camera feed from inside the building. In less than a second he found what he was looking for. _"We got perps standing guard just inside the door, a driver in the truck, and Joker and the other three are closing in on the vault. Time to go catch a clown with his hand in the cookie jar.'_

'_But I thought Joker was after the gold Mr. Wayne keeps here?' asked a very confused Martian. _

"_It's just an expression, beautiful." _Wally smile winningly at the pretty but clueless girl.

"_Artemis, I need you to take out the get-away van. Megan, keep perimeter, make sure no perps get out. Wally, Kaldur, and Superboy, you're with me. We are going to take this clown down!" _

The team nodded and, on Robin's signal, dispersed to their separate tasks.

Once inside the building the first set of gaily dressed henchmen were easy to take out, most falling within a few seconds.

"This is easy; don't know what you're always complaining about Rob." KF smirked over his unconscious henchman.

"Yeah, wait 'til you meet the big guns." The young acrobat shot back, already racing off for the next set.

After taking down all of the henchmen they reached the corridor just outside the vault, but the steel door that led to the vault room was locked.

Within seconds Robin had his holographic wrist-computer out. "He's locked himself in, or more likely, Batman out."

"Batman? Who said anything about Batman?" KF asked.

"That's who Joker thinks is coming for him. Plus, Batman's gonna get the credit for this since we're supposed to be covert."

"Oohh Maaannn."

Robin smirked at Kid Flash and began hacking into the hacker's connection that kept the door locked. After a few minutes they heard a soft hiss as the door unlocked.

"The hacker has been hacked! Totally asterous." Robin cackled.

Once inside they saw the Joker gleefully steeling bars of gold (yes I know they are incredibly heave, but that never stopped DC).

"Party's over Joker," Robin did his best Batman voice, causing Kid Flash to quickly look over his shoulder to ensure that tall, dark, and brooding wasn't standing there.

"Bats? Is that you? Oh come on now, come play with Uncle J!"

Robin cackled and emerged from the shadows.

"Oh, it's just you, the bird-brained _sidekick_."

"Don't call us that!" Superboy angrily yelled as he emerged from the shadows long with Aqualad and Kaldur.

"My, my, what do we have here? A whole gang of sidekicks, this ought to be fun."

"I would say I'm sorry to ruin your fun, but I'm really not!" Robin launched himself at the clown, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks that Joker blocked and dodged. Aqualad, Superboy, and Kid Flash charged in after him.

"Tsk, tsk, so serious. Let's see if we can't turn those frowns upside down." Joker cackled as he pulled out a fully automatic AK-47 and let it rip.

Bullets tore through the room. Aqualad quickly pulled up a water shield, but in the enclosed space the bullets were ricocheting wildly and the Atlantian was forced to retreat, taking refuge outside of the vault.

Superboy, being virtually indestructible, continued on without getting so much as a scratch.

Wally tried to avoid the bullets but found that they were ricocheting too much for even his super speed brain to keep up with and he retreated.

Robin, with only Kevlar to protect him, was flipping about everywhere, dodging bullets with agile grace while drawing closer to the Joker all the while. Only once did he pause and that was only for a brief second. Though none of the others could hear it, Superboy picked up a sharp hiss of pain.

Robin and Superboy reached Joker at about the same time, Superboy ripping the AK-47 out of the crazed clown's (alliteration anyone) hands while Robin knocked him out with two solid punches to his jaw.

Once Joker was secure Kid Flash and Aqualad joined the other two. Seeing the Joker unconscious and bound on the floor Kid Flash hi-fived Robin enthusiastically, the little bird wincing as their hands connected. It was only then that the other three boys noticed the bullet hole in his arm and the blood leaking from it.

"Rob! Dude, that looks nasty!" Kid Flash reached out to inspect the wound, but Robin batted his hand away.

"Robin, are you alright?" Aqualad asked worriedly.

Superboy hung menacingly behind Robin, protecting the little bird as well being ready to catch him should he fall.

"It's a through-and-through, didn't get the bone or any muscles. Just slap a bandage on there and I'll be good as new." Robin shrugged off their concern and pushed through the group they had formed around him. "We should get these guys out front for the commish."

"You were shot Rob! How can you be so calm?" Kid Flash looked incredulous.

"Not my first time getting shot, KF." Robin glanced down inquisitively at his wound. "This is pretty mild compared to most nights."

Kid Flash spluttered. "You mean – this happens- you what?" He lost all ability to think coherently, though Robin wasn't entirely sure that he possessed that ability to begin with.

"Robin, when did this happen?" Kaldur was unnerved by Robin's cool demeanor and asked the first thing that came to his mind as Kid Flash continued to mutter incoherent sentences.

Robin shrugged.

"It was while he was halfway to the Joker. The bullet got him in mid-flip." Superboy spoke for the first time.

Wally and Kaldur gaped, that meant that Robin had to perform half of those flips and acrobatic stunts with a busted arm.

"You did all _that_ with a bullet _in your arm_?" Wally finally regained the ability to speak.

"Yeah," they gaped at him. "Guys, it's just a flesh wound. _I'm fine_!"

"Robin! You are hurt!" Megan squealed as she flew in to help the four boys secure Joker and his henchmen.

"It's just a scratch Miss M. I'll be fine. Why don't you help KF out over there, he has a serious injury to his pride." The young acrobat smirked, hoping to shift attention off of himself and onto someone else.

"What? Do not!"

"I've never seen anyone run away from the Joker so fast!"

"Uh-huh, that's because I have superspeed you idiot!"

"At least I'm not a chicken! Bak-bak-bak" Robin did his best impersonation of a chicken as Wally turned crimson.

Robin deposited the villain and his henchmen in the back of a prison transport vehicle and was off over the rooftops of Gotham before Commissioner Gordon had a chance to thank him or his team to figure out where he had disappeared to, again.

Robin found Bruce waiting for him at the Batcave, the older vigilante's eyes immediately honing in on the blood stained bandage adorning his arm. He glared at Robin. _What happened and why wasn't I there to stop it?_

Robin gave a small nod to him. _Don't worry, I'm fine. _

Bruce reluctantly nodded back. "How'd it go?"

"Joker's back in Arkham."

Bruce snorted. "I give it two weeks before he's out again."

"I give it one." Dick peeled off his mask and hung his cape up.

"I'll bet two dozen of Alfred's cookies that it's two weeks."

Dick smiled mischievously. "You're on."

* * *

><p>One week later:<p>

"Bruce! Joker's out again. You owe me two dozen cookies!"

**A/N Half of this didn't seem practical, but I had fun writing it. **

**The story didn't quite turn out like I had planned. ProtectorKorii, I hope you liked it :) **

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: As much as I am love writing this series, I have another series that I am working on. But do not despair, I am not ending this series, I will simply not be updating it as frequently as I have been. **

**My next series: A series of stories concerning baby Robins, Daddy!Bats, and the Justice League. This will also be the indirect sequel to Many Meetings, given that it will entail the first meetings with Robin and certain Justice League Members. I will hopefully have this up sometime this month. **

**I am also participating in the National Novel Writing Month, so things will be a bit spotty for a while. **

**I owe a huge thank you to all of wonderful readers! This story has successfully hit 50,000+ words (considered a novel), 30,000+ hits, and over 220 reviews! **

**Thank you everyone!**


	26. Goodnight

Goodnight

By

Angelina

I tell you, it's always me. Everything always happens to me! And today was no exception.

We were sent on a mission to find and shut down another of Bane's plants in South America. What we hadn't been told was that his plant was in an old mine! Apparently South America is riddled with mines, abandoned or otherwise, and Bane thought it would be a good place to hide his operation. If it hadn't been for my superior hacking skills than we never would have found the place, let alone got in.

After we got in we split up to our different tasks.

Kid Flash and Artemis were to create a distraction, easy enough for them. All they had to do was get into one of their infamous arguments and all of the workers would be running for the hills.

Megan was monitoring all of our separate locations and searching for Bane's mind. If she found his location than Superboy and Kaldur would be dispatched to go take him out, but if he wasn't found than Kaldur was guarding Megan and Superboy was guarding me.

And I was planting explosives in strategic points in the mine. As soon as everyone was out we were going to blow this thing sky high. As soon as the last of the explosives were set I hacked in to the mine's security system (really, who puts a security system in a mine! But that's Bane for you, willing to do anything to protect his pressure drugs. And I mean anything) and activated the emergency evacuation system.

Loud klaxons began blaring, sending the workers running for the hills and signaling the team to regroup.

But of course Bane had to find us in the pandemonium, and by us I really mean me. Because of the klaxons and shouting echoing through the mine, I couldn't hear Bane until he was right on top of me. Batman would be so mad.

Bane aimed a punch at me and I attempted to flip out of the way, but the villain had followed up with a kick that caught me in the side and sent me flying across the mine shaft to impact painfully with the opposite wall, I groaned. Why me, why is it always me?

Superboy heard my groan and turned around in time to see me slide down the wall. With a howl of rage he launched himself at Bane.

The rest of the team had arrived by now and Kid Flash helped me to my feet as Kaldur and Megan went to help Superboy battle Bane.

In his angered state Superboy grabbed Bane, as Kaldur knocked him off-balance, and hurled him across the mine shaft to break through two beams before crashing into the wall, leaving a large dent. He jumped over to the villain and picked him up again, spinning around twice before letting him fly. Another two support beams splintered as the massive Bane crashed into them.

I don't know what Superboy was thinking, or if he was think at all, but my mind couldn't help flashing back to the collapse of Cadmus. The clone was going to bring the mine down on us! I was just opening my mouth to warn him when he managed to hurl Bane through the last three support beams; I'm going to kill him if we get out of this alive.

The mine gave an ominous groan before it started to collapse. This time there was no strong metahuman to shield me from the collapse and a rather large section of ceiling decided to fall on my head.

Why me? That was the last thing I thought before blackness enveloped me.

* * *

><p>"-bin, dude, come on, wake up!" Someone was kneeling beside me, patting my cheek. I gingerly cracked my eyes open, hissing at the pain that that little movement caused me.<p>

"Hey guys, he's waking up!" There was the voice again. I concentrated on bringing everything in focus and was greeted with the sight of Kid Flash hovering worriedly above me.

"Welcome back, sleeping beauty," Kid Flash laughed.

The other quickly crowded around me. Superboy and Megan had both survived without a scratch. Kaldur had lost one of his waterbearers and was sporting several rips in his costume from which blood oozed sluggishly. Artemis had a sling on her right arm, which I assumed was broken. Kid Flash had a nasty gash on his left shoulder where his uniform had completely been torn away to reveal the freckle covered skin beneath. All of them were coated with several layers of dust and grime. I imagined that I didn't look any better.

I groaned and attempted to sit up, only to fall back again. Kid Flash caught me on my way down and propped me up into a sitting position.

"You okay?" The speedster asked, concern clouding his voice.

I gave him one of my patented 'what do you think' looks. "How long was I out?"

"Several hours," Megan supplied with a worried expression.

"What happened?" I asked.

They all looked at me like I had two heads.

"Uh, the place kinda came down on us." Wally finally answered.

"I gathered that much. I meant what happened after the place came down?"

The team traded uneasy glances before Kaldur spoke up. "After I awoke I helped Wally dig you and Artemis out of the rubble while Superboy and Megan attempted to dig a way out. It appears that a several sections of the mine collapsed. We are fortunate that your explosives were not set off, but as it remains: we are trapped. We are unable to find a way to dig to safety without comprising the integrity of the haven we have here."

I tried to sit up fully to get a better view of what remained of the mine, but my broken ribs screamed out in protest and my head throbbed. Great, just great. This is so not my day. "Did you guys contact the League?" I ground out through grit teeth, trying to keep my mind off the pain by fully analyzing our situation.

"We tried, but we're in too deep. The signal won't get through." Artemis looked exhausted, all energy seeming to have left her voice. "Could you get a signal on your computer?"

I shook my head and immediately regretted the action as black spots danced across my vision and white hot pain radiated through my body. I forced myself to calm down and take deep breathes until I stopped feeling dizzy.

By the time I had gained control of myself again my team was looking at me with even more concern than before, if that was possible.

"Rob, dude, are you okay?" Wally asked worriedly, lowering me back down to the ground.

"I will be, just a concussion."

A took another deep breathe and closed my eyes, focusing on anything but the pain and dizziness.

"Robin! Stay awake!" Superboy was kneeling beside me now, shaking my shoulders as he spoke for the first time since I woke up.

Gradually I opened my eyes again, trying to ignore the pain lancing through my head as Superboy continued to shake me.

"You can't go to sleep; you could go in to a coma if you're bleeding into your brain."

Darn that clone and all the knowledge Cadmus had put in his brain. I really wanted to go to sleep right about now, but I knew the clone was right. "ok."

Conner sat back looking somewhat placated, but deep in his eyes I could see his concern multiply. Great, that's the last thing I needed, more mollycoddling. I got enough of that from Batman.

The idea of an emotional and mother hen Batman suddenly danced across my mind and I started laughing. First they were quiet giggles, then laughter, and then loud, creepy cackles.

My team was looking at me like I was crazy, but I didn't really care, everything just kept getting funnier and I couldn't help but laugh and laugh and laugh. The concussion must have been worse than I thought.

My laughter died away into coughing after a few minutes. The dust in our small space was getting thicker and making it hard for me to breathe.

I don't know how much time passed while I laid there and tried to regain my breath. I only registered the fact that Superboy was carrying me when I felt a small jolt as he tripped over a small rock.

He was walking across the small space that we occupied towards a section that was somewhat protected from the thick swirling dust. Kid Flash was already there and he gently took me from Superboy's arms. He sat down with me in his arms, supporting almost all of my weight and allowing me to use his shoulder as a pillow. If I wasn't so out of it I would probably be angry with myself for being so weak.

After a few minutes of sitting there my eyes started to close again, I was so tired and sleep sounded like such a good idea.

"No." Someone was gently shaking my shoulder. "You must stay awake, Robin."

I opened my eyes to see Kaldur looking at me. I scowled, why wouldn't they just let me sleep?

"You may sleep when help arrives."

I looked over to where Artemis was propped up against a wall, sleeping fitfully. The Atlantian followed my gaze. "She does not have a severe concussion. I am sorry, my friend, but you must stay awake."

I grunted and forced myself to grasp onto consciousness a little harder. He was right, of course, but I really wanted to sleep.

Wally gave him a small nod and the leader reluctantly left our sides, going over to help Megan and Superboy try to dig their way out.

The speedster was talking to me now as he shook me periodically, making sure I stayed awake. He talked about his science project that was supposed to be due tomorrow, he really though that he was going to get an A on it, but now he couldn't turn it in. He talked about the kids in his class, the girl he wanted to ask out, and his Great Uncle's boring birthday party. Several minutes passed before he started talking about how lucky we were, how God had to be looking out for them. They had all survived the mine caving in, they had a small space that they could stand up in and move around in, and they even had oxygen coming in from somewhere, keeping them all alive.

I stopped listening to Wally and blinked rapidly a few times to keep myself awake. I really wanted to go to sleep right about now.

"Come on now Dick," Kid Flash whispered in my ear.

The use of my real name startled me and got me to focus on the speedster.

"Stay awake just a little longer. Help is on the way."

I snorted weakly, leave it up to Wally to be the eternal optimist. I had never been overly optimistic like the speedster, but at the same time I wasn't overly pessimistic like Batman. I guess you could call me a neutralist, realistic, yeah that sounds about right. And right now I couldn't help but look at my situation from a detached realistic point of view. "You don't know that Wally. We couldn't get a single in here, which means that it's quite likely that the League can't find our tracers. It's more than likely that the League won't find us in time. Whatever tunnel is letting the oxygen in could collapse. Without oxygen we would die within a few hours."

"Way to be positive Rob," Wally groaned.

I couldn't help but smile a bit at his tone, but then I became serious again. "Plus even if help is on the way it isn't likely that they would get here in time. With a head injury like mine I will pass out soon and after that who knows what could happen. The League would need to get here sooner rather than later and I doubt sooner would even be fast enough."

"For a smart guy, you're a real idiot, you know that?"

I looked up at him quizzically.

"You forgot about Batman," Wally told me, as if it was obvious. "Batman always comes for you, he will find us, I know it."

I felt a surge of gratitude towards the speedster and I smiled my appreciation. He wrapped his arms tighter around me and I relaxed even more into them. We sat like that for a long while, Kid Flash shaking me every once and awhile to make sure that I stayed awake.

I don't how much time passed, but after a while I slipped into a semiconscious state, neither awake nor asleep. Everything was peaceful and as much as I wanted to go to sleep, I was content to stay like that and wait. Wait for Batman to come.

I was jolted from my semi-conscious stupor when a pair of large arms lifted me from Wally's arms.

I forced my swimming vision to focus and was met with the worried gaze of Batman. I sighed thankfully and let my head rest on his massive chest, listening to his rhythmic heartbeat. "B-batman, asa oboist, c-can't st-stay…"

"It's okay. Voi fi aici cind te trezesti, micuta mea pasari." He whispered into my hair as he held me close.

I nodded and curled into him even more, allowing my eyes to slip closed as I finally gave in to the pressing darkness.

**A/N Translations: **

**Asa oboist: So tired**

**Voi fi aici cind te trezesti, micuta mea pasari: I will be here when you wake, my little bird.**

**I know that Dick speaks Romani, but I couldn't find translator for that so you guys get Romanian. **

**This was a fill for Kick-Aft's request in which Robin gets a bad concussion and the team has to keep him awake. I hope you liked it Kick-Aft :D**

**Anyway this is another product of a roadtrip! Me, the twins, Charlie, Andy, and my parents all in the car together driving eight hours up to Ohio while singing along with VeggieTales at the top of our lungs!**


	27. Charge of the Light Brigade

The Charge of the Light Brigade

By

Angelina

They were Young Justice: one for all and all for one. They loved each other, had found a home with each other, and they knew that when the time came they would lay their very lives down to save each other. They were a team.

Half a league half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred:

'Forward, the Light Brigade!

Charge for the guns' he said:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

The team had been assigned the mission. And though they knew not what perils is might entail, they accepted it as always with smiles, good hearted jesting, and laughter. They would conquer it together, as they always had and always would. They were a team.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'

Was there a man dismay'd ?

Not tho' the soldier knew

Some one had blunder'd:

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do & die,

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

But as they charged headlong into their mission, they realized that they would likely not return. The Justice League had made a mistake, they had told them to battle a foe too strong, to complete a task too perilous. But they would not question their mentors now; they would simply fight the odds together. They were a team.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon in front of them

Volley'd & thunder'd;

Storm'd at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well,

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of Hell

Rode the six hundred.

The Injustice League stood before them. The Light stood behind them. But still onward they charged. They knew that this would be their last battle, but still onward they charged. Not unnerved by the daunting odds, the taunting smirks, the degrading laughter, onward they charged. They would face their last battle together and there would be hell to pay. They were a team.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,

Flash'd as they turn'd in air

Sabring the gunners there,

Charging an army while

All the world wonder'd:

Plunged in the battery-smoke

Right thro' the line they broke;

Cossack & Russian

Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,

Shatter'd & sunder'd.

Then they rode back, but not

Not the six hundred.

Guns fired, energy weapons discharged, bombs blew, Joker toxin went flying. Fighting and carnage were all around them. They fought back, arrows went flying, bat-a-rangs soared, water thundered, sinews bulged, muscles rippled, and minds worked quickly. But they were not enough to conquer the day. However they stood firm together, even as they started to fall. They were a team.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon behind them

Volley'd and thunder'd;

Storm'd at with shot and shell,

While horse & hero fell,

They that had fought so well

Came thro' the jaws of Death,

Back from the mouth of Hell,

All that was left of them,

Left of six hundred.

But one by one they fell. And they were bodies in the trenches of a never ending war.

When can their glory fade?

O the wild charge they made!

All the world wonder'd.

Honour the charge they made!

Honour the Light Brigade,

Noble six hundred!

But come now, take heart. They were not forgotten, they could not be forgotten. They live on in memory and in honour. For they were, and will forever more be a team. They were Young Justice.

**A/N I had to do a project on this poem for literature class and another plot bunny hopped into my mind that my muse couldn't ignore… sometimes plot bunnies and demanding muses can be overwhelming. More request chapters to follow when I can finish them. **

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: In honour of Christmas, I will be doing a series of Christmas stories. However, that means that I will have to put Brothers on the backburner for the month of December, sorry. But be sure to check out the new Christmas series and my 'Frying Pan of Doom' series (a series containing all of the weird dreams that Wally has of his team. Newest chapter: a Cinderella spoof)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or the poem **_**The Charge of the Light Brigade**_


	28. Soulless Window

Soulless Window

By

Angelina

The eyes are the window into the soul. Or at least, that's what I had always been told.

For as long as I can remember, I had never liked to look other people in the eye. I had never liked to see the disgust, the hatred, the mocking, the lies, and dark secrets harbored behind the eyes of the many people I interacted with.

_Freak_

And I neverlooked myself in the eye, for I was scared to see what my soul harbored. I didn't want to believe the voice in my head, the mocking of so-called friends, the bullying of life-long demons.

_Weirdo_

But now, as I stand in my spotless bathroom, gripping the sink for dear life and willing myself to look myself in the eye, I find that I cannot bring myself to look at the monster that I surely am.

_No one likes you_

It's too true. But can I help it that my mind processes things faster, that I can observe the tiny details that others miss and then weave it into an unlikely, but all too true reality? That I know a computer inside and out? Surely I'm cleverer than them. But I'm not clever enough, not clever enough to act like them. I'm too different, too abnormal, too weird.

_Hey look! The freak's coming…_

I lied to them, of course. I tried to make them see that their mocking didn't bother me. I told myself it didn't bother me; why should I care what they say, after all? I'm ten times smarter than any of them. So why don't I believe myself? Why do I still remember what they say, years after I would have forgotten anything else?

_Loser_

But it's true, isn't it? I'm just what they say I am. They were right, and for the first time in many years, I was wrong. Maybe I've always been wrong and that's why I won't look myself in the eye, so I can live life believing in myself, ignoring the monster I've become.

_Soulless _

The voice in my head won't go away; it just keeps replaying what I've been told all these years. Can't people see that beneath my brilliance I care, that I want to make a difference in the world? That I try and use my superior skills to help?

_You are nothing_

"Shut up!" I shouted, gripping the sink so tightly that I bruised my palms. "Shut up! You don't know me!"

_Oh, but I do. I've known you your whole life. I know what a worthless, weirdo, freak, and loser you are. _

"No, no." I don't realize I'm crying until the tears began to fall from my face onto the cold marble of the sink below me. "Yo-you're wrong."

_Than prove it, look yourself in the eye and see the monster you've become. _

Slowly I raise my head, my raven black hair clinging to my face. I looked over the features of my face, from my pale pink lips to my small nose, to the single freckle above my right eye, but the entire time I avoided looking at my eyes.

_You're too scared to even look yourself in the eye; you know you're a worthless loser. _

"No," I whispered, not sounding convincing in the least.

Slowly I looked myself in the eye. What I saw haunted me. My eyes were red and puffy from crying making the blue of my irises stand out even more. But it wasn't the state or colour of my eyes that scared me, it was what I saw in them; nothing. Empty. Soulless. Devoid of any emotion, devoid of anything. They were the eyes of a dead man.

_You are useless. You are nothing. You're a freak and the world is better off without you._

This was why I always kept my eyes covered around my friends, always wore a mask, to hide the monster that I truly was.

"NO!" With all of my might I punched the offending mirror, cracking it and distorting my own reflection.

I sank to the ground, ignoring the numerous cuts on my hand and the fractured fingers. I felt as broken and mangled as the cracked mirror above me. The voice inside my head laughed bitterly at me.

_You think they like you? You think _he _loves you? You are a pathetic, worthless, sorry excuse for a human being! You don't deserve to live._

"No," I cried brokenly, sobbing silently into my bloodied hands.

_You will never, ever be good enough_

I didn't hear the loud banging on the bathroom door as I sat in a heap on the cold tile floor. I didn't register when the door flew off of its hinges and Bruce came charging in. I didn't protest when he picked me up as if I weighed nothing and carried me out to my perfectly made bed.

"Richard! Please, you have to talk to me." It's been half-an-hour now and I still haven't said anything. I just sit curled up on my bed with Bruce unsure of what to do. If I were thinking more clearly than I would have noted the way he kept trying to pull me into his arms, the worry in his voice, the comforting hand rubbing circles on my back. But I am too busy trying to ignore that voice in my head to notice his actions.

"Dickie-bird, please, you have to say something, anything!" Desperation, an emotion almost never heard in the Dark Knight's voice now clearly clouds Bruce's.

I am snapped out of my inner battle by the raw emotion in my guardian's voice. "They were right," I murmur almost inaudibly.

"Who was right? What were they right about?" Bruce sounds confused and I look down so he can't see into my soulless eyes, ashamed for what I have confessed.

"I'm a weirdo, a freak, I'm soulless! I'm a monster." My outburst is sudden and vehement and Bruce has to restrain me before I manage to throw myself off of the bed and into the Victorian nightstand that Alfred is so fond of. I'm crying again, I can feel the hot tears coursing down my face. "I'm worthless, I'm a nothing."

It hurts to repeat the words of that cursed voice in my head, but I finally realize that it was right. I really don't deserve to live.

Suddenly my face is seized between two hands and forcibly turned to look Bruce in the eye. With a squeak of surprise I avert me eyes to avoid look into Bruce's, but he just shakes my face bringing my eyes back to look at his. The dark Navy oh his eyes meet the cerulean blue of my soulless windows.

"You listen to me right now Richard Grayson. You are not worthless! You are a wonderful boy whom I care for a great deal."

I silently shake my head, he is just saying these things out of pity, he can't truly mean them. After all, I'm so pathetic; he must be laughing at me on the inside.

Suddenly one of Alfred's silver serving platters is shoved in my face, I don't know if it's been here the whole time, but I do not question its appearance.

"I want you to look at yourself."

I do as he says, gazing at my somewhat distorted reflection in the silver, avoiding looking myself in the eye.

"What do you see?"

"I see a pathetic excuse for a human being." I can feel a strange emotion building up in Bruce, but I chose to ignore it and wallow in my own sorrow.

"Do you know what I see?"

I shake my head.

"I see a wonderful boy who loves to laugh and be happy, who plays video games at three in the morning when he thinks I've gone to sleep, who sneaks Alfred's cookies when he's not looking, who swings from that damn chandelier, who is a hero to his friends, who has achieved some of the greatest things in life, and I see a boy who has a very special place in my heart."

Normally I would have either laughed at the idea that Bruce was such a sap, or have been horrified that he was being so uncharacteristically kind, but right now he was saying something that I needed to hear. I'm crying for the third time today.

"Go ahead Dick, look again."

I take a deep breath, and for the first time in many years, I truly look myself in the eye and I smile at what I see.

**A/N I once knew this girl. She was a really special girl. She had the voice of an angel and the heart of one as well. She would go out of her way just to make you feel special and loved. She would comfort you when you were crying, laugh at all your bad jokes, and smile with all of your insignificant triumphs. **

**A little bit less than two years ago, she took her own life. No one knew that she was struggling with depression, no one could even fathom that such a sweet and loving girl could do such a thing. But she did and now I never get to see her smile, hear her sing and laugh, or make snoogles (a yarn creature) with her again. I know this isn't exactly in the Christmas spirit, but I can't help thinking about her. **

**At this time of year we are all looking forward to the presents that we will get to open up tomorrow, the items that we will get, the time with family that we will spend. But if you would, take a moment, just one moment, to think about those who are dear to you and thank God for them. Because you never know how long you will have with them. And when you're done with that, take one extra minute to call or facebook a friend and tell them how much they mean to you, because little things like that make all the difference. **

**Anyway, Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight (or is it good morning now? I guess it depends on your time zone)**


	29. Long Black Veil

Long Black Veil

By

Angelina

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. All recognizable characters and lyrics belong to DC, Cartoon Network, Burl Ives, and any other owners. For the love of God, please put a disclaimer on all of your stories as the ACTA has been passed in the US. I love in fear of this thing. **

_She walks the night_

_In a long black veil_

_She visits a grave when the night winds wail_

Robin was in more pain than he could ever remember. Of course, he had heard that getting stabbed multiple times would do that. His hands tried to cover the wounds littering his abdomen and chest, but there were too many.

With an enormous amount of effort, and only thanks to his intensive training, Robin forced his mind to focus and not to fall into a state of shock. One of his hands fumbled with his belt before he finally manage to open the desired compartment and press a small, green button residing within. A beep emanated from his belt and he sighed knowing that the signal had gotten through to Batman.

A minute and 36 seconds passed before Robin's knees buckled and his legs refused to support him any longer. He gave a cry of pain as his shoulder broke his fall and jarred his injuries.

Realizing that Batman might not get to him in time, Robin turned himself onto his back and focused on slowing his respiratory system. Hopefully the slower his heart beat, the slower he lost blood.

Three minutes and eight seconds later his eyes slipped closed, too heave to hold open any longer, and Robin grudgingly gave in to the grudging darkness. "Batm-"

_She walks the night_

_In a long black veil_

_She visits a grave when the night winds wail _

"Richard Grayson, my you are a hard one to catch."

Robin opened his eyes at the mention of his real name, only to notice that he was in an utterly white expanse. Before him stood a deathly pale woman, clothed in an entirely black bustle gown, with a black veil covering her face and sweeping behind her to the ground. "Wh- who are you?"

"I am Death, my dear boy."

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" groaned Robin, this was so cliché.

"Not in the least. I am simply here to take you with me to the afterlife." The woman extended a black gloved hand expectantly.

Robin laughed, "KF would get a kick out of this. It's so cliché… Am I really dead?"

"I'm death and I'm here to take you, do use logic." Death narrowed her eyes, shoving her arm even farther towards him.

"Well you see, if I was really dead than it would come to a logical conclusion that you could just take me, but you aren't. So, logically, it would seem that I still have a choice in this. Ergo, I may have a chance to go back."

"I'm not waiting for your decision boy; I'm simply waiting for your mentor to give up."

"Huh?" Robin was confused.

Death gestured to something behind him and Robin turned to stare down at the rather shocking scene unfolding in the warehouse below.

Batman was performing CPR, desperately trying to get his son's heart started again. "Damn it, Robin! I won't allow you to die. You hear me? I won't allow it!"

Robin was touched by the emotion in Batman's voice.

At Batman's outburst, Death swore loudly and Robin turned around just in time to see her regain her composure.

"Farewell Richard, I will be seeing you again," Death's sickly sweet voice rang out and Robin barely turned in time to see her fade into a black nothingness that quickly consumed him.

_She walks the night_

_In a long black veil_

_She visits a grave when the night winds wail_

Batman walked into the med bay room that Robin had been moved to after the surgery. His prognosis was grim, multiple stab wounds to right lung, liver, and both intestines, and severe internal bleeding. Superman had informed him that his little bird had fallen into a coma and wouldn't wake up until his body repaired the damage, if he ever woke up at all.

As he lingered in the doorway, Batman was sure to keep his face as stoic and unreadable as always, but if one really looked closely than they would see the hint of sadness and determination. Crossing the room in three strides, he sat down in a hard plastic chair by his son's bedside, where he would remain until he awoke again.

Batman had never been one for clichés and Robin certainly didn't look like one as he lay in his hospital bed. He did not look like he could have been merely sleeping, he honestly looked awful. He was too pale, his veins creating a purple roadmap across his body. His hair was matted from whatever cleaning solution the doctor had washed it with, his eyelids almost translucent. There was a prominent bruise below his right eye, extending over his cheekbone. The bulky bandages peaked out from the sheet and made Robin almost look clumsy with his thin features encased in so many layers of white gauze stained red in places.

Several days passed, Batman sleeping little, eating nothing, and refusing the other heroes' attempts to make him leave Robin's room for more than a bathroom break.

On the third day Kid Flash visited Robin, sitting on the opposite side of his bed for hours. His eyes never left his comatose friend until the sixth hour, when he looked accusingly at Batman. "How can you deal with this so well? How can you sit there with that look on your face? Don't you care?"

Batman flinched slightly at the last question before he fixed his masked eyes on the emerald green of Wally's. "Because I know he will be alright."

And Wally didn't question that.

_She walks the night_

_In a long black veil_

_She visits a grave when the night winds wail_

Batman turned out to be correct, as usual; Robin woke up the next day and was released from the med bay two weeks later. Another two weeks saw him back on the streets of Gotham fighting crime.

Nearly two months later Dick and Bruce were visiting the Wayne family plot at Gotham cemetery. It was a dreary day, with the wind whipping and grey clouds blanketing the sky, all in all a fairly normal day in Gotham.

"Why don't you go ahead, I think I'm going to go take a walk?" Bruce kindly asked. While he may not pick up on a lot of things when it came to Dick, he always knew when he needed to be alone.

Dick turned back from staring at his parents' graves and smiled his appreciation, watching Bruce walk away until he was a distant figure on the smog smudged horizon. With a sigh he turned to walk up to the plot when he spotted her. She looked exactly like she had in his dream.

Her skin was snow white, her lips a very dark red, her eyes glinted a cold and indifferent grey. She wore a black, bustled gown from the late Victorian period, accented with several large buckles, and she carried a black lace parasol, matching her black lace gloves. Flowing over her face and to the ground below was a long black veil, swaying in the wailing wind.

"Death," Dick greeted suspiciously.

"Please Richard, it's Matilda. You don't seem overly surprised to see me."

"Well it is a cemetery."

Matilda laughed, the sound slithering off her tongue and immediately freezing the air around her. "That it is, my dear boy."

Dick cocked his head to the side as he tried, and failed, to read the expression on the woman's face. "What do you want with me?"

"You intrigue me, Richard. Your number has come up so many times, but yet you always manage to escape me. You really ought to thank that mentor of yours."

"What do you mean?"

"Never play poker with him."

"Huh?" Dick was thoroughly confused be her statement.

"We had a small wager a few years back and I lost," she blanched at the memory.

Dick smirked.

Matilda walked around from behind his parent's graves to loom over Dick, all pretense of civility lost. "You were supposed to die with them, but you didn't. And that brat has been interfering with my work ever since then. But one day, one day _Richard_, your precious Batman isn't going to be there to save the day. And then you're mine, like you should have been eight years ago."

Dick shivered as Matilda's features contorted into a hideous expression. She threw her parasol over her shoulder and began walking away from the small teen. "Do take care Richard, I'll be seeing you soon."

"You wish, death." Dick smirked, watching her disappear in a gust of wailing wind slightly apprehensively.

As soon as she was gone Dick threw a hasty kiss to his parents and fled back to the dirt path that he had seen Bruce go down earlier.

"Dickey," Bruce surprised him, appearing behind him without a sound. "What's wrong Dick? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"You could say that," Dick shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"You met Matilda, didn't you?"

The shock on Dick's face must have been more apparent then he thought because Bruce threw his rather large arm about his small shoulder. "She does tend to have a negative effect on people."

Dick snorted.

"So what did she want with you?"

"Apparently I've been escaping her clutches, and she isn't very happy. She said I was supposed to die with my parents when they fell and she wants me back."

Bruce's grip on his shoulder tightened with the last statement. "I wouldn't worry too much about that Dick, she can't touch you, I won't let her."

"You know, I saw her when I died for a minute back at the warehouse. She didn't take me though, seemed to be waiting on you, and now you tell me you won't let her take me. What do you mean?" Dick remembered Matilda telling him about a wager.

"Let's just say that she lost a not-so-friendly bet and now owes me."

Dick burst out laughing, of course death owed Batman.

_She walks the night_

_In a long black veil_

_She visits a grave when the night winds wail_

**A/N Yes, I am alive! Sorry for the long absence, but my family was in Scotland. My uncle had end stage cancer and we went to say goodbye to him. We were out there for three weeks and I got to go to Edinburgh and London. Anyway, I'm back and will hopefully be updating a few things. **

**I'm such a Debbie-downer sometimes, but I really didn't like this story as much as I thought I would, so hopefully someone else can like it for me (that sounded better in my head).**

**I actually swore in this, I think I need to go to my corner now…**


	30. Luck o' the Irish

Luck o' the Irish

By

Angelina

Of all the things Robin was expecting to see when he entered Mount Justice, a crestfallen Wally was not one of them.

"What's the matter KF, Megan refuse to go out with you again?"

"Very funny Rob, as a matter of fact, I am dating a smoking hot babe at the moment," Wally glowered at his best friend.

"Finally ask Artemis out?" joked the young acrobat.

"What!" spluttered Wally, "that's so not funny, dude."

Robin's cackles reached to the rafters of Mount Justice, but he stopped short with his merriment when he saw that Wally was still sulking. "Come on Wally, what's wrong?

"Well, you remember the crazy relatives that I told you about?"

Robin thought for moment, "Which ones? The beer drinking Germans on your uncle's side or the beer drinking Irish ones on you aunt's side?"

"The Irish ones."

"Yeah, I remember them, why?"

"Every year they have reunion and it's awful. Usually there's some mission in Central that keeps us from going, but this year Uncle Barry is making me go."

"Yeah, so? You can have a lot of fun at family reunions. I sometimes wish that I could go to one." Robin looked sad and Wally somewhat regretted bringing up the whole subject.

"Well, the reunion is at my other Uncle's Irish pub in a tiny pig farming town in West Virginia…"

"Oh." It suddenly clicked with Robin why Wally was not looking forward to this. "If it helps, I can come with you.

The speedster brightened up considerably. "Really!"

"Sure, I still owe you from that time you came over to keep me company when I had my tonsil's removed."

"You're the best!" Wally yelled, jumping up and nearly tackling his smaller friend to the ground with his fierce hug.

…

"What on earth did you get me into?" asked Robin, staring at the small pub as Wally parked his pick-up truck in the already crowded field next to it (Robin was surprised that he had such a car, he really would have figured on something sleeker and faster). They were in Dodge, a small town in West Virginia of about a thousand. Dodge consisted of a general store, a farmer's co-op, Molly's café, O'flanagan's Irish pub, and the only gas station for miles. It looked like the entire town had turned up for the reunion, and half of them seemed to be pig farmers.

"Ready to meet the in-laws?" Wally joked as they climbed the steps to the small looking pub.

Robin scowled at him, pushed his sunglasses farther up on his face, and braced himself. As the door swung open he was assaulted with a large, dimly lit room. The pub was crowded with an assortment of people, most talking loudly in either a country or an Irish accent. A small band was set up in one of the corners, playing a rousing jig to which half a dozen people were dancing to. Many people were scattered across the pub and at the bar, all drinking Guinness. Smoke from cigars and cigarettes obscured the scene and the scent of alcohol was heavy in the air.

"Well here goes nothing." Wally mumbled and stepped into the pub.

"Oh, there you are Wally!" his Uncle Barry called to him from a nearby pool table. "I was beginning to think you would never show!"

Wally didn't miss the underlying tone in his mentor's voice, but he just brushed it off with a lopsided grin.

However, no sooner had he turned to avoid his Uncle than his Great-Aunt May was all over him. "Oh Walter dear, it's so nice to see you!" She punctuated her words by pinching the speedster's cheeks, thoroughly embarrassing poor Wally.

"And who is this you brought?" Aunt May had moved on to pinching Robin's cheeks.

Wally had his face buried in his hands now, mumbling apologies out the side of his mouth to Robin. "That's Robin, Aunt May. He's a friend from, uhhhhh, 'afterschool activities.'"

"That's so sweet, Walter. But isn't it about time you got a nice girlfriend or something?" she asked loudly. "This one's kinda scrawny."

Wally blushed profusely and stuttered out some superspeed babble that no one could understand. He quickly grabbed Robin, bid a hasty goodbye to Great Aunt May, and began retreating to an unoccupied corner of the pub.

As soon as Robin got over his embarrassment he turned to survey the chaotic reunion again. "So what exactly do you do at these things?"

"Well since I'm not of legal drinking age, and Uncle Barry would kill me if I got drunk," Wally added underneath his breath. "I usually just sit and watch, it can be pretty asterous." The speedster waggled his eyebrows at his best friend and the younger boy burst out laughing. Their laughter, however, was cut short by a swinging umbrella.

"You bloody wanker! Bugger off!" A large, burly man swayed into Robin's path, knocking him to the ground. The drunken man clutched a bottle of Guinness in one hand and a frilly pink umbrella in the other. He was swinging the umbrella like a sword as he attempted to swat people out of his way.

"I thought your family was Irish?" Robin eyed the burly man distastefully as Wally helped him up and continued pulling him to an empty booth in the corner.

"They are. Patrick swears like an Englishman when he's drunk. None of us have figured out why yet."

"Oh." Robin was lost, at the most he had only ever met his Aunt Harriet and large, boisterous families like this were foreign to him.

The two best-friends finally shoved their way to an empty booth and sat down, shoving the remainders of someone's bangers and mash aside.

"Ethel! Put your clothes back on!" someone shouted from the booth behind them and Robin quickly turned around to see an elderly gentleman yelling at the empty seat beside him.

"Don't mind Uncle Ernie, whenever he gets drunk he sees his wife Ethel," Wally waved dismissively when Robin looks at him quizzically.

"How long ago did she die?" Robin remembered an older clown from his circus days who saw his dead wife when he drank too much.

"He was never married."

"Wally, you have a weird family."

"Don't I know it," Wally groaned as Patrick stumbled by again with his umbrella swinging wildly from his wrist, swearing loudly at no one in particular.

"Hey, Lydia!" Wally hollered to a serving girl.

"Wally!" Lydia shrieked, dashing over to his booth to throw her arms around him. "I haven't seen you in, like, _forever!_"

"Great to see you too," Wally gasped out as Lydia's arms began strangling him.

Lydia released him and turned her attention to Robin, who had been trying to shrink farther into his seat at the hopes of being unnoticed. "Who is this cutey?"

Robin blushed profusely before sticking his hand out politely. "I'm Robin, Wally's best friend."

Lydia ignored his hand and hugged him fiercely as well, only letting go when Wally noted that Robin was turning purple.

"Like, can I get you anything to eat?" Lydia inquired, straightening out her waitress apron.

"I'll have a half-pound hamburger, extra-large fries, and a jumbo chocolate milkshake," Wally counted his order off on his fingers.

"You sure you don't want to like try something like different? We got some pretty awesome fish and chips or bangers and mash!"

Wally made a face that Robin couldn't help but laugh at.

"What'll it be for you?"

"I'll just have water, thank you," Robin answered politely.

"Like okey dokey, I'll have your orders out in like a bit." Lydia bustled off, expertly ducking under Patrick's umbrella as the burly man wandered back to the bar for more beer.

"She doesn't sound Irish," Robin commented after Lydia was back in the kitchens.

"That's because she's from California. My Uncle hired her to work at the pub when she came back east to help out her grandparents," Wally explained.

Lydia brought out Wally's food and Robin's drink and the two lapsed into silence, watching the goings on of the reunion.

The band had struck up a series of reels and the group of dancers was rapidly growing. Patrick was off in a corner downing beer, prodding passersby with his ever-present umbrella, and scowling at all. Great Aunt May had her skirts hiked and was dancing along with the reel, the fat on her thighs and arms jiggling in time with the music. Uncle Ernie was over at the 50's style jukebox, which was very out of place in an Irish pub, talking to Ethel about the first song they ever danced to.

On the opposite side of the room, a sugar drunk Uncle Barry was engaged in a heated game of pool that ended abruptly when some broke a pool-stick over his head. Over in the other corner, someone broke a bottle of Guinness over the jukebox when they found that the darn thing didn't play Irish music. An all-out brawl quickly ensued with the band playing a rousing jig in the background as some bystanders egged on the rapidly growing group of fighters.

Lydia was shrieking her head off for someone to do something, but her only response was the pub owner joining in with gusto.

Uncle Barry was suckered into it as well after his defense of his beloved Irish ended in him getting hit in the face with Patrick's umbrella.

Off in the corner, Great Aunt May fainted and the band finally screeched to a halt as they either joined in on the fight or rushed over to move Aunt May out of the way of the fighters, they did not want anything impeding another epic brawl.

Wally shrank back into his booth until only the tips of his redder-than-red ears and top of his fiery orange head could be seen. Robin cocked his eyebrow at his friend before flicking a man between the eyes as he was thrown onto their table.

The fight would have gone on for a good while longer had it not been for the Sheriff, who was part of the family and already in attendance, pulling out his rifle and shooting the twenty-second hole in the ceiling. By now, Wally was nowhere to be seen as he had completely shrunk underneath the table from embarrassment.

Slowly the band started to play again, someone bought the Sheriff another round of Guinness, a trio of equally drunk men approached Robin's booth to haul off their unconscious friend, Wally finally returned to his seat, and all began to return to normal

"Let's get out of here. I know this great little ice cream joint a few towns over that's open 'til midnight." Wally suggested after everything was calm again.

"Sure, your relatives are so drunk, or unconscious," Robin added underneath his breath, "that they probably won't notice."

So the two friends paid for their meal and snuck out to Wally pick-up where the quickly hopped in and got out of Dodge as fast as they could.

After they were safely across the town line the young acrobat turned to his best friend, a smirk plastered across his features. "Well, now I know where you get it all from."

**A/N This was a fill for CK4eva's (and anyone else who requested Dick and Wally bonding/fluff) request: Wally and Dick brother bonding. Hopefully this works. CK4eva, I hope you liked this :D **

**Yeah this was a lot funnier in my head…**

**This story is based off of the reunion that my family has every year, minus the fighting. My mother is a first generation American who is originally from Scotland. My father's grandparents came over from Ireland during the Industrial Revolution and settled in Virginia and West Virginia. Anyway, my father's side has a reunion every year at my Uncle's Irish pub, and it usually gets out of hand. **

**And I swore in British, I do apologize… For some reason swearing in British is rather funny, now I just need to learn a few Finnish swear words and nobody will ever know what I'm calling them. Oh dear, I think I need to stop typing these things while I'm behind…**


	31. Forever is A Long Time to be Wrong

Forever is a Long Time to Be Wrong

By

Angelina

A lone figure stood before the two graves. The wind blew brown leaves across his feet and toyed with his ebony hair. The chill in the air matched the chill in the figure's heart as he stood with his head bent and scarf wrapped almost up to his eyes, though not enough to conceal the tears that slowly leaked into the wool.

It had been almost six years since his parents had died, six years. And, as usual, Dick could be found by their graves. But this time there was no telling of his life, no filling them in on the unimportant things of a teenager's experiences, no update on the team or Batman, just bitter tears and an anguished heart. "You guys promised you wouldn't leave me. You promised you would always be with me, that we'd be a family forever."

More tears fell into the wool scarf, so carefully made by Alfred. "But you left me anyway, left me here, the last of the Grayson's."

"You left me with the shadow of an idea of what family should be like, and a broken spirit," Dick turned from their graves and walked two rows over to another part of the family plot. Two huge graves, almost a crypt-like, stood in prominence over the others reading of the untimely deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne. But to the right of them, in a grave just as elaborate, lay their son, Bruce. It was this grave that Dick stopped at.

"And you promised me that you would always be there for me, that I was your little bird and that I could always rely on you. You died; you left me alone, again! You lied and you knew it."

It had almost been a year since Bruce Wayne, and Batman, had died, ironically on the day after the fifth anniversary of John and Mary Grayson's death. Dick hadn't taken it well and the next day the League stepped in to make sure he found a good home. Alfred stayed behind at Wayne Manor to make sure everything was in order, and the Batcave destroyed, before he took a year off and went back to England. The Manor and Wayne Enterprises had been willed to him, but Dick didn't care about wealth or posessions, he just wanted his family back.

Dick's eyes were red as he thought of everything that happened, but he could not bring himself to cry over the past year any longer."You left me, Bruce. What am I supposed to do now? How many parents am I suppesed to survive losing?"

Silently he pulled a black mask from his pocket and laid it at the foot of his father's grave. "Robin's dead, you took my wings when you left."

Dick turned to go, his scarf flying out behind him in the wind where his cape normally would have. He would never see his family again, never work with Batman, and never fly as Robin. Dick Grayson had died with John and Mary; Richard Wayne had died with Bruce; Robin had died with Batman.

He had lost everything that made him who he was, and now he had nothing left. As he walked from the graveyard that day, he left himself behind.

Just before he made it to the rusted cast iron gate that led out of the cemetery, he turned and looked over his shoulder with bitterness towards his second father's grave, "forever is a long time to be wrong."

* * *

><p><strong>AN So I'm currently in bed with a fever and I managed to smuggle my computer to my room without anyone noticing to write this. Anyway, this chapter is my 31st and so I have been thinking about some things. One, I really don't know how long this story is going to keep going, I'll probably keep it alive just as a dumping ground for random one-shots (really, that seems to be all I write). I will definitely finish up all of the request chapters and if I keep having interest than I will keep working on stuff for this, but I don't want to keep going and be losing interest because this is getting so long. **

**So, I have a few other series that I need to be working on as well. Like my Frying Pan of Doom and Of Bats and Birds (though I'm thinking of changing that one, I just can't seem to get little, cute Robin. If I do change it, it will end up being a story about all of Batman's rules and the rules of the Batcave and how Robin learned them or they came into being.) **

**Anyway, author's note was almost as long as the story, my apologies. Please tell me what you think about my plan/rant, I really enjoy your feedback on my writing plans. **


	32. Nightmare

Nightmare

By

Angelina

It was guys' night at Roy's apartment in Star City. The hour was just past midnight and inside the tiny living room of the one-bedroom apartment, the party was beginning to calm down.

Wally had consumed three large pizzas and was almost done with his fourth; in front of him a pile of empty soda cans revealed just how much caffeine he had managed to ingest.

Dick sat next to him, his calculus homework for next month lying completed on his lap, his eyes glued to the television screen as a black-and-white alien movie played.

Roy was dosing fitfully with a scowl on his face and both arms crossed, on the opposite side of Dick.

Halfway through the movie Dick began to fall asleep, slumping farther and farther into an unresponsive archer as he did so.

Wally, having drunk too much caffeine for his own good, was far from falling asleep, so he contented himself with drawing on Roy's face while the archer slept.

It was in the darkest hour of the night, the hour before dawn, that Dick was faced with his most feared nightmare.

Deep in his unconscious mind, circus music began to swell as a small, humble circus came into view. As Dick approached the circus he noticed that, besides the music, the place was eerily quiet. It honestly looked like it had been abandoned for years.

The cages that once held his many animal friends were rusted and broken, the doors hanging off their hinges as they swung in the wind. The tents of the clowns were faded and torn, the popcorn and cotton candy machines lying empty and overgrown with weeds. His family's trailer was rusted, all the windows broken and the wheels rotted. The stage coach was on its side, the one intact wheel turning lazily in the breeze. The big top that at one time bore red and gold stripes was faded to pink and almost white, the colour and character of his beloved circus now gone.

As Dick approached the entrance to the big top, however, he saw light filtering from underneath it and could faintly hear cheering coming from inside. Upon entering, he was thrown back five years to the days when he performed with his family. He blinked and suddenly found himself back as his nine-year-old self, standing high above the faceless crowd with his parents.

"And now put your hands together for the Flying GRAYSONS!" the ringleader's loud voice boomed around the circus tent. Wild applause greeted the three figures as the spotlight fell on them.

"Performing their death-defying aerial stunts without the safety of a net!" he continued and several gasps were heard from the crowd.

Dick was beaming as his mother hugged him and his father placed a proud hand on his shoulder. The family of three waved out to the massive crowd.

"Time to fly Dickie; time to fly my Robin." His mother whispered in his ear and then she and his father swung off on the trapeze.

Dick could hear the music that the routine was set to over the noise of the crowd and he counted the beats until he would be able to join his parents out on the trapeze. Four beats left to go.

Four

His mother was swinging toward him, a smile on her face.

Three

There was a small creaking noise but Dick paid it no mind.

Two

He was getting ready to leap, to catch his mother's hands and fly with them.

One

There was a snap, a scream as he missed his mother's hand by inches, and a crunching thud as his parents' bodies hit the ground far below.

Dick let out a wail, falling to his knees on the platform.

"No! Mommy! Daddy! No! Please don't leave me. Please don't go! "Mommy! Daddy! No!" The last shout ended in a wailing sob and Dick crumpled to the platform desperately wishing that he could have fallen with his parents.

Dick awoke with a start and a soft gasp, silent tears dampening his cheeks. He let out a shaky breath, pulling his knees to his chest as he did so. He hated that dream, hated reliving the worst moment in his short life.

His tears were falling faster now, blazing tracks down his puffy face as he cried into his knees, his small sniffles barely audible.

It was to the sound of those sniffles that Roy awoke. He rubbed a hand across his bleary eyes in an attempt to focus, but no sooner had he done so than he realized that it was his youngest brother he who was indeed crying.

Roy bolted upright, turning to his right to find Dick huddled up in a corner, trying to be silent as he cried. "Oh Dick."

Roy chucked a pillow at Wally before he jogged over to Dick and sank down beside him. "Hey there kiddo, did you have a nightmare?"

Dick nodded before he threw his arms around Roy's neck and clung there as if his life depended on it. Roy held Dick, rubbing circles in his back to try and calm the little bird down.

By now Wally had figured out what was going on and was by his two brothers' side in a flash. "Another nightmare?"

Roy nodded and held an arm out for the speedster to join the hug. The speedster complied and they held Dick as he cried brokenly. No words of comfort were whispered, no promises that everything would be alright fell from their lips, they knew neither of these would help a boy who had been through far worse than they could ever fathom. Instead they held him, letting him know by their physical presence that they wouldn't leave him, not now or ever.

It took several minutes, but after a little while, Dick had finally calmed down and untangled himself from his brothers as he wiped his eyes. "Thanks guys."

"Same one as usual?" asked Roy.

"Yeah," Dick nodded.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Wally asked, already knowing the answer.

Dick shook his head, but smiled his appreciation all the same.

"So do you want some ice cream, or something?" Wally asked hopefully.

"Shut up, Wally. You just want another excuse to eat more sweets," Roy scowled at a pleading Wally.

"Oh, come on, I just want a little sugar. Please," begged the speedster.

"No way in heaven or hell are you getting sugar after all the caffeine you drank tonight," Dick glared and Wally backed down.

"Fine, just let me starve."

"You know, that's a darn good idea, what do you think Dick?" asked an amused Roy,

"I think you have hearts drawn all over your face," Dick snickered as he took his first good look at Roy.

Almost as fast as Flash could move, Roy darted to the bathroom and looked into the mirror only to discover that Dick was correct, there were little red hearts drawn in permanent marker all over his face.

"Wallace West, I am going to kill you!" he yelled as he dashed out of the bathroom and threw himself at a fleeing speedster.

"That's right, you better run Wallace, you do not want to know what I'm going to do with you when I catch you!"

"Na-na-a-boo-boo," Wally blew a raspberry at Roy, "have to catch me first!"

Dick laughed as Roy chased Wally around the couch, tripped the speedster, and tickled him senseless. Though were all pretty weird and not very comfortable with their emotions, (courtesy of a certain nighttime _hobby_) they always knew exactly how to make each other feel better, even if that ended up being a crazy, crazy solution.

**A/N This was a fill for RobinForever who requested a story in which Robin has a nightmare and Roy and Wally have to comfort him. Hope you liked it RobinForever!**

**More request chapters to follow!**


	33. Rockin' Robin

Rockin' Robin

By

Angelina

**Angelina: Welcome all to the 33rd chapter of "Brothers!"**

**Arthur: Like they really care about your introduction, get on with the story. **

**Angelina: Hush. Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Arthur. He is the sarcastic and cynical voice inside my head that for some reason is British. Yes I named my voice, he also acts as my muse and editor and is wonderful at telling me just how much my stories stink. **

**Arthur: That's because all you bloody write is Fanfiction that often times doesn't have a plot, figurative language, or anything that would make it interesting. Face it; you're just a fan girl with a computer.**

**Angelina: Shut up, Arthur! Anyway, this is the 33rd chapter, do you know what that means?**

**Arthur: No, they don't. And I seriously doubt they want to. **

**Angelina: Well you're just a little party pooper this morning, go bug the twins while I finish my intro. **

**Arthur: Whatever.**

**Angelina: It's time for a song fic! (well kinda, there's song in here, not really a song fic as Arthur tells me I stink at those)**

**Arthur: God help us…**

* * *

><p>Robin snuck into the gym at Mount Justice, a boom box clutched in his hands and a knowing smirk on his face.<p>

Upon easing the door open, Robin was assaulted with the sight and smell of their personal gym. In one corner Superboy had his weight lifting equipment (designed specifically for Kryptonians), in another was a treadmill equipped to the speeds of a speedster. A series of targets occupied the end of the room where Artemis would practice shooting.

In an adjoining room was a large, salt water pool for Aqualad. On the other side of the pool room were many heavy objects, beams, rocks, and such that Megan practiced her telekinesis on.

But the object which drew Robin's eyes more than anything else was the contraption the team liked to call "the roost." It was a system of platforms, poles, ropes, nets, and bars that started at five feet from the ground and extended all the way to the top of the mountain, a good 150 feet away. Out of everything at Mount Justice, even the computer system, this was Robin's favourite thing.

Setting the boom box down beside his roost, Robin went through a series of stretches and contortions that required the absences of a backbone. Finally loosened up enough, he turned the boom box on.

The sound of a young Michael Jackson filled his roost as the music blared loudly.

_He rocks in the treetops all day long, _

_Hopping and a bopping and singing his song,_

His team was off in other parts of the mountain, or in Happy Harbour shopping, he had several hours to himself in which he would have fun.

_All the little birdies on Jay bird street_

_Love to hear the Robin go tweet, tweet, tweet_

He back flipped onto the lowest platform and pushed off from there to grab a bar a few feet away. Swinging his body around the bar a few times a let go at the apex of his swing and somersaulted many feet into the air where he grabbed a rope and swung himself over to a net that he climbed and then launched himself from the net to a trapeze bar that swung him halfway across his roost to a platform where he stopped for a minute to sing to the song.

_Rockin' Robin_

_Rockin' Robin_

_Go Rockin' Robin _

_Cause we're really gonna rock tonight! _

Laughing his signature laugh, Robin launched himself back into his roost, flipping, swinging, flying, and rocking.

_Every little swallow, every chickadee_

_Every little bird in the tall Oak tree_

_The wise old owl, the big black crow_

_Flapping their wings singing go bird, go_

Unbeknownst to Robin, Wally, Superboy, Aqualad, and Artemis were watching him from the shadows across the room, amazed as he soared through the air, so many feet above the ground without anything to catch him should he fall.

_Rockin' Robin,_

_Oh Rockin' Robin_

_Go rockin' Robin_

_Cause we're really gonna rock tonight!_

A music interlude played, the electric guitar wailing loudly throughout the room as Robin moved on to harder moves, triple flips and somersaults, difficult transitions, and a higher altitude. By now Wally and Artemis were both standing with their mouths agape as they watched the little bird go at it.

_A pretty little Raven at the bird band stand _

_Taught him how to do the bop and it was grand_

_He started going steady and, ah bless my soul, _

_He out bopped the buzzard and the Oriole_

Robin joined in singing as he continued to fly around his roost, his voice carrying to the onlookers far below and blending fairly well with Michael's. No sound of exertion could be heard in the little bird's voice as he turned a triple somersault to grab onto a bar ten feet away.

_He rocks in the treetops all day long_

_Hopping and a bopping and singing his song_

_All the little birdies on Jay bird street_

_Love to hear the Robin go tweet, tweet, tweet _

Robin's laughter carried throughout the mountain, he didn't have a care in the world as he played. This was what he was born to do, to fly.

_Rockin' Robin, _

_Rockin' Robin_

_Go Rockin' Robin _

_Cause we're really going rock tonight!_

Not seen by any in the room, a camera on one of the walls swiveled to view the roost and followed the flying bird.

_A pretty little Raven at the bird band stand _

_Taught him how to do the bop and it was grand_

_He started going steady and, ah bless my soul, _

_He out bopped the buzzard and the Oriole_

The group of teenage heroes watching slowly inched closer as the song neared its crescendo. They had seen Robin work out before, they had seen him on missions, and on television, pulling stunts that most of them could only dream of doing. But they had never seen him like this, having so much fun and performing for no one but himself. Out of all the amazing things they had ever seen him do, this was their favourite.

_He rocks in the treetops all day long_

_Hopping and a bopping and singing his song_

_All the little on Jay bird street_

_Love to hear the Robin go tweet, tweet, tweet_

Robin had finally reached the highest point in his roost, almost high enough to touch the ceiling but a few feet above, with one particularly loud laugh Robin let go of the rope he was swinging on and began plummeting to the ground far below.

_Rockin' Robin, _

_Rockin' Robin, _

_Go Rockin' Robin _

_Cause we're really going to rock tonight! _

Grabbing a few ropes or bars here and there, Robin slowed his descent, and after a triple somersault, grabbed onto one last rope, before swinging himself over to land with a double flip on a platform ten feet above the ground. As he landed he held the last note, his voice cracking badly and sending the note way off key, but he didn't care.

As the music faded Wally burst out laughing, Artemis and Aqualad started clapping, and even Conner smiled. Startled, Robin nearly fell off the platform at discovering that he was not alone in the room.

He glared at Wally, "what are you laughing at?"

"Dude, your voice cracked so bad!"

Aqualad gave him a reproaching glare, but Wally's giggles continued. Choosing to ignore the rude speedster he turned to the acrobat, "That was quite amazing, Robin."

"You can say that again!" an enthusiastic archer said.

"That was quite amazing, Robin?" Aqualad looked confused and Wally started laughing louder, in a minute Robin joined him and Artemis followed suit. Conner smiled not getting what was so funny and Aqualad was still trying to figure out why he should be required to repeat what he had said when everyone clearly heard it.

After the laughter finally died down Wally threw his arm around his best friend's shoulders and said, "you really know how to fly, don't ya Rob. You've got to teach me how to do that!"

Robin laughed at the mental image of the speedster trying to do a double back flip, "maybe one day, Wally."

"Yeah, one day when he finally gets some coordination. Oh wait, that means never," Artemis smirked as she walked away.

A very indignant Wally let go of Robin and sped up to Artemis' side, ""I'll have you know I'm as smooth as a baby's bottom."

Artemis tried and failed to hide her laughter at that and sped up her pace leaving a blushing speedster in her wake.

"Wait, that didn't come out right!" Wally hollered as he chased her out of the room and into the mountain, the echoes of their argument floating back to the laughing teens still in the gym.

Far away, in the depths of the Batcave, Batman finished watching his little bird's performance on the security camera. He smiled, Robin did know how to enjoy himself, but that god awful music. He didn't know why Robin insisted on working out to it. Yes, he got the symbolism, still it was annoying, and Batman didn't like annoying.

And Robin wondered why he got banished from the Batcave so often…

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><p><strong>AN Ok, at some point, you knew this was coming. I just couldn't resist! **

**Next chapter is a request chapter. **


	34. Batman's Mantle Part I

Batman's Mantle Part I

By

Angelina

**Angelina: So it seems that I worried a few people last chapter with Arthur. So let my try and explain him a little better. **

**While Arthur is my biggest critic he is also my biggest inspiration. If he's not making sarcastic comments about an idea I have then I know it probably isn't a good idea. Arthur is also my sense of humour, and while I wish he would shut up a lot, he is a good source of inner critiquing to help my stories be better. If something is overdone, melodramatic, or too sappy, he will usually make that abundantly clear and then I fix it so he only has minimal comments. Without him I would be very different and probably not a sadistic fangirl. Arthur is the biggest supporter of all my Robin torture stories. **

**Arthur: Oi, short person, they probably don't want to hear about me. **

**Angelina: I love you to Arthur. **

* * *

><p>It was an utterly dismal night that greeted Batman as he started his patrol. He sighed as he swung over the rooftops; he was missing his mischievous hacker for the third patrol that week. Over the past few weeks, Robin had spent a lot of time at Mount Justice, training with the team, hanging out, or completing missions. Today they were throwing a party to celebrate his sixteenth birthday and Batman had finally consented to him going after nearly two weeks of begging.<p>

While one part of him was glad that Robin was growing his own wings, making his own friends, and learning how to become a hero without his aid, he was also sad that his little bird was growing up and doing things on his own.

"Damn it," he muttered to himself, now was not the time to be getting sentimental. He was the Batman after all, he didn't get sentimental.

He turned his attention back to the job at hand and swung on into the heart of Gotham, the blackness of the night swallowing him whole.

* * *

><p>At Mount Justice Robin's party was in full swing. The mountain had been decked out just for the occasion. Multi-colour streamers, batman symbols, and confetti peeked out from every nook and cranny, considerably brightening the atmosphere and gave a very festive feel to the normally monotone cave.<p>

In the common room all of the young heroes gathered, each teen festooned in gaily coloured party hats and blowing noisemakers as Robin blew out the sixteen candles on his cake.

"What'd you wish for?" asked Wally as soon as the last candle was out.

"He can't tell you that, Kid Idiot, otherwise it won't come true," Artemis huffed at the speedster.

Aqualad looked apprehensive; he did not want an argument ruining the rare chance they had to celebrate with their youngest team member.

Megan, sensing Aqualad's worry and a rapidly approaching argument, shoved a slice of cake into Wally's hands. The speedster immediately began stuffing his face while the Martian engaged Artemis in a conversation about a romance movie the two had watched the night before.

Robin smiled; he really loved his team, his siblings. Even if they were an odd and very crazy bunch.

Conner took it upon himself to serve cake to Aqualad and Robin before Wally decided he was going to eat it all, the speedster had already disposed of all the ice cream.

The clone sat down next to Robin and handed the acrobat a small slice of cake, "what did you wish for?"

"Do you really want to know?" asked Robin with a hint of a smile playing across his lips.

"Yeah."

"I wished that we'd always be a family. You, me, the team, and Batman, that is. All of us."

Conner smiled, he could understand the wish, "that sounds nice."

Robin was about to reply when his utility belt began to emit a strange noise. He looked down at the thing in annoyance, if this was another one of Batman's ridiculous tests than he was going to kill his mentor, or at least change all of the passwords in the house again.

One glance at the device, however, quickly turned Robin's annoyance into worry. A small bat symbol was blinking incessantly, it's was Batman's emergency button. He only used it when he was in extreme peril. Robin had only seen the button used once, and it was something he neither wanted to remember nor relive.

Without a backward glance or explanation to the team, Robin ran out to a transporter and was back in Gotham before he could even register his friends' surprised exclamations at his hasty departure.

Robin tore the door off of the abandoned phone booth he was teleported to, pulled out his grappling gun and shot off into the dark night.

"Alfred, where is he?" the young acrobat nearly shouted into his comm unit.

"Master Robin, thank goodness! I've been trying to reach you for ten minutes! His tracer's coming in from the northwest side. I'm sending the coordinates to your wrist device now, sir."

Pulling up his wrist computer and taking a few seconds to locate the blinking bat symbol, Robin swore loudly. Batman's tracer was transmitting from the industrial part of town, who knows what could have happened. He increased his pace.

Robin landed softly outside the building where the Batmobile was parked, paused briefly to check for traps, and then dashed in.

It was on his sweep of the fifth floor that Robin found him. Alone, bleeding in many places, and unconscious Batman's crumpled form seared itself into the photographic memory of the young bird.

"Batman!" throwing all caution to the wind, Robin sprinted to his mentor's side and dropped to his knees. His hands ghosted over the man's chest, abdomen, and legs where multiple lacerations, contusions, and deep wounds could be found.

Biting back a sob, Robin tore off his cape and used it as a pressure holder, switching from wound to wound periodically. After he got some of the bleeding under control, he pulled his mentor over his shoulders into a fireman's carry and lumbered out of the building and to the Batmobile.

It was now Robin's turn to be the driver breaking every traffic law known to man as he raced to get a dying partner back to the Batcave. It was now Robin's turn to chew his lip in worry, to steal furtive glances at his unresponsive mentor. It was now Robin who was frantically radioing Alfred to get Dr. Leslie. It was Robin who finally had the roles reversed, he wasn't the one in the passenger seat, fighting for his life, he was the worried son who was literally racing to save his father's life. At that moment, Robin would give anything to have his old spot back, to be the one unconscious in the passenger's seat, not Batman, not his father.

Dr. Leslie was waiting for them as Dick pulled into the Batcave, overshooting his intended parking spot and knocking over a table full of evidence. Robin launched himself out of the vehicle and over the hood to yank open the passenger door. Alfred rushed over to help him pull Batman out and lift him onto a waiting gurney.

Alfred and Dr. Leslie barreled off towards the Med bay with the gurney in between them, leaving Dick standing uncertainly beside the now-empty Batmobile.

After a few minutes Robin finally walked over to the Med bay, sitting in a plastic chair just that Batman had occupied a way too many times over the past few years of Robin's existence.

"I'd give anything to switch places with you," without realizing, Robin uttered a sentence that Batman had thought many, many times as he sat in that plastic chair and awaited the fate of his baby bird. Now it was Robin's turn to await his father's fate.

As the turmoil of all the thoughts in his head began to die down Robin could hear a frantic Dr. Leslie calling out orders as she and Alfred raced to save Batman's life.

Suddenly a long, low tone sounded throughout the Batcave and Robin knew from experience that it was the sound of a heart monitor flat-lining.

Robin tried to shut his ears off as he heard the whine of the defibrillator being charged, tried to ignore the sounds of the electric shock being administered, tried to tune out the continuing tone of an unresponsive heart.

Several minutes later Robin came out of the trance he had put himself in to hear a quiet cave. That was good, quiet meant everything was alright, everything was normal.

Dr. Leslie was emerging from the Med bay, taking off blood stained surgical gloves as she did and tossing them in the nearest rubbish bin.

Robin got up from his chair, expecting Dr. Leslie to approach him and tell him the good news, to tell him that Batman would be fine, that he would live.

But instead, she turned to him with a pained expression on her face and a tear in her eye, "I'm so very sorry."

Robin didn't hear anything else, a great roaring noise invaded his mind, his extremities went numb and he collapsed back into the chair as his entire world vanished in an explosion of darkness.

**A/N So this is the first part of a story requested by Tydeerose. More information on the request and the rest of the story should follow next chapter.**


	35. Batman's Mantle Part II

Batman's Mantle Part II

By

Angelina

Robin woke to the steady sound of a heart monitor. Good, he thought, this was only an awful nightmare. I'm back in the cave and everything is fine.

He opened his eyes to the familiar stone ceiling and turned his head to the side to see if he could catch a glimpse of the mentor he knew would be waiting by his side. But there was no mentor, only an empty plastic chair.

Maybe he went to the bathroom or to get coffee. Yeah, that's probably it; he just needed a little coffee. I've probably been out for a while, he reasoned with himself.

Robin sat up and took stock of any injuries that he had, only to find none. Satisfied that moving around wouldn't harm him, he removed the wires and IV drip from his person and slid out of bed, his bare feet protesting at the cold stone floor.

That was when Robin noticed it, he was still in his uniform and that uniform was covered in blood that was not his. Giving a shout of surprise, Robin reeled back into another bed, turning around to see that it had blood stained sheets. Batman's cowl and cape lay folded beside that bed. Robin screamed.

Hearing the commotion that Robin was causing, Alfred rushed into the Med bay, "Master Robin!"

Robin turned towards the kindly butler with wide eyes, "tell me it's not true, Alfred. Tell me it was a dream!"

"I'm afraid not," Alfred was openly crying and Robin feared that he was telling the truth.

"Alfred, you have to do something!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry, Dick, there's nothing to be done. He has left the land of the living. He's not coming back."

Dick gasped, great sobs racking his solid frame. Alfred couldn't be telling the truth, he had to be lying. Bruce couldn't be dead!

But Alfred had used his preferred name, no master Richard, no master Robin, no Richard, not even sir. Alfred had called him Dick, and when Alfred used that name it meant the situation was as serious as it could possibly get.

Dick crumpled to the ground and wept openly. Alfred tried to reach out to the boy, but his hand went unheeded and he eventually left the grieving teen.

Robin didn't emerge from the Batcave that night, and Alfred didn't go looking for him. Both were too occupied with their own grief.

The next day Alfred wandered around the Manor like a zombie, cleaning everything mechanically, often times dusting the same vase twice, or polishing the same piece of silver three times. Around the afternoon Alfred finally returned to the Batcave to send the message out to the League, they should know that their leader was dead.

After the message was sent, Alfred checked in on Dick to find the boy asleep on the bed that Bruce had expired on, clutching Batman's cape as if it was the last thing in the world.

Sighing, Alfred walked over and picked Dick up with some difficulty. As the boy was placed on another bed he cried out in Romanian, begging Bruce not to leave, to come back. Alfred pretended not to hear those broken pleas as he left.

The next morning Alfred was awakened by a loud banging on the front door, only a handful of people in the world knew how to get past the Manor's security so Alfred deemed it prudent to answer the door.

Alfred threw open the large mahogany door to find a scraggly looking Clark Kent.

"I just heard, where is he?" asked Clark urgently as he brushed past the English butler.

Alfred sighed, not wanting to put up a fight that day, "he's in the Batcave."

Without a backward glance, Clark ran through the halls of Wayne Manor, boarded the elevator, and began the descent into the infamous lair of the Batman. As the elevator doors began opening, Clark could vaguely hear shaky breaths and soft crying.

Clark jogged through the Batcave until he pinpointed the sound coming from the med bay. The Kryptonian slowed to a walk as he approached the bay, inside lay Dick, wrapped in a black cape as he clutched his last safe haven desperately. "Oh Dick."

Dick looked up as Clark approached him. No sooner had the hero sat down on his bed than Dick threw his arms around his neck and wept into his shoulder, "he's gone, he's really gone. Ce urmeaza sa fac, nu pot trăi fără Bruce. A fost ultimul tata AM avut. Ele sunt o sa ma duca departe sunt ei nu? Ma duc sa ma intorc la un orfelinat. Şi ce despre Batman, are loc o Batman, Gotham nu poate supravietui fara una. Şi ce despre mine, despre ce Robin, I nu poate exista fără Batman. Te rog spune-mi Clark, ce urmeaza sa fac fara el?" the boy slipped into rapid Romanian.

Clark could only blink in response, only Alfred and Bruce had learned Romanian, he and the few other heroes who knew Dick's identity never bothered to learn the language. Clark regretted that decision now just as he had many times in the past when Robin was scared and would slip into his native tongue.

Dick was dangerously close to completely losing it when Clark didn't respond immediately. Finally the older hero managed to form an acceptable answer, "I'm sorry Dick, I'm so sorry. But we're here if you need us, all of us, even Roy."

Dick nodded lifting his head from Clark's shoulder to stare at the wall in front of him with a blank expression.

"Speaking of Roy," Clark broke the eerie silence several minutes later, "I think I hear him and Wally upstairs."

The older hero sighed when even the mention of Dick's brothers showing up didn't cause the boy to stir from his trance-like state.

A few minutes later Roy and Wally poked their heads around the door and Clark got up to meet the two.

"How is he?" asked a concerned archer.

"Not very good."

"Well duh, his father just died," Wally whispered.

Roy glared at him and Wally deflated.

"Why don't you two try talking to him," Clark suggested as retreated with a heavy sigh to the elevator.

"Hey kid," said Roy as he and Wally entered the Med bay.

Robin didn't reply, continuing to stare blankly at the wall ahead.

With a sigh, both friends sat either side of the grieving boy and remained silent. After an hour, Dick finally collapsed into their arms crying.

"What am I going to do, what am I going to do?" That question fell from the boy's lips over and over again and each time he was met with silence. His brothers could do nothing but hold him as he cried himself out.

After a while Dick's sobs subsided into hiccups and then gradually lessened to silent tears. He didn't make a move, however, to extricate himself from their hug. Instead he lay there feeling empty inside, like a huge part of himself was missing. He was really getting tired of that feeling.

After another 30 minutes, he disentangled himself from the hug and sat up, a determined look on his face, "I have to go on."

"Hmm?" Roy asked, not trusting himself to speak after watching his baby brother going through hell.

"I have to keep living, Bruce would want me to."

"Will you be alright?" Wally asked with hesitation and concern. It sounded like a stupid question, but the speedster knew that Robin would hear the emotion behind it, would understand exactly what he was asking.

Robin gave him a long and calculated look, "maybe one day."

Roy sighed and placed a comforting hand on Robin's shoulder, "we're here for you kid, anytime you need us."

Robin nodded his appreciation and both of his brothers rose to leave, throwing him sympathetic looks as they exited the Med bay.

And the acrobat was left alone in the dark cave again.

**A/N Well, this is turning into a three shot, my apologies, I probably should have just added part three to this, but I haven't quite worked it out and I thought you guys might want to read what I did have done.**

**Next part is the last part and should include the League and team. **


	36. Batman's Mantle Part III

Batman's Mantle Part III

By

Angelina

The next day, Dick emerged from Wayne Manor to figure out what he was going to do. Turns out Bruce had left him everything, well almost everything. Alfred got the summer home in England and the impressive collection of Bentleys. Dick knew he deserved so much more.

Bruce also left a clause in his will that allowed Dick to emancipate himself and avoid ever having to step foot in another orphanage, provided that he took over Wayne Enterprises.

After Dick had everything settled with Bruce's lawyers, he finally spoke to the press and announced his decision to take over his father's position. With sincere tears in his eyes he told them that he knew he could never come close to replacing the man his father was, but he would sure try.

And then there was the funeral, it was a grand affair, half of Gotham's finest in attendance. But Dick could care less about the socialites and floozies his father had put up with to keep his cover.

He cared much more about the few true friends who showed up, the ones who would miss Bruce, not his money. Roy and Wally were there from the viewing, silently waiting by to comfort their baby brother should the need arise. Conner (who had discovered Robin's identity on a mission where Robin was injured and talking in his sleep) came a few minutes later and stood awkwardly in the back, unsure of what to do or whether or not to comfort his friend, so instead he settled on glaring at everyone that went past. He was, however, unprepared for the hug that Dick gave him and the sheer sadness that was conveyed in such a simple gesture.

Clark and Diana came next, Diana rushing to hug Dick as she cried silently. Clark simply looked at the boy sadly before finding a seat for him and Diana, and then motioning for Conner to join them.

Dick couldn't help smiling sadly at the two, Clark had finally got his act together, but it only came because of the death of his friend.

Ollie, Dinah, and Barry came in next. Ollie and Dinah simply stood next to Dick, hoping to offer some strength by their presence. Barry, however, threw himself onto Dick and started bawling loudly. Dick patted his back awkwardly and had to be rescued by Wally after nearly five minutes. Had it been any other occasion, Dick and Wally would have been laughing loudly, making jokes at Barry's expense. But now they both remained silent.

Commissioner Gordon and Barbara came as well, but before Dick could greet them the minister interrupted to start the service.

Dick didn't really listen to the short sermon that the minister gave, didn't really listen as people remembered Bruce, didn't even listen to what came out of his mouth as he spoke of Bruce taking him in when he had no one else and becoming the father he needed. He didn't really listen to anything, just sat with the company of his own dismal thoughts.

With the funeral over, Dick holed himself up in Wayne Manor. He sent a message to the Justice League, telling them not to announce Batman's death, and then cut all contact with them.

It had been a month, a very long month for the two inhabitants of Wayne Manor. Dick started to go out as Robin again, trying his best to keep the streets of Gotham inhabitable. No one had seen Batman in a month, but the presence of Robin reassured them and they all assumed that Batman was working some Justice League business, just as Robin hoped they would. So far, Gotham was none the wiser. Except maybe commissioner Gordon, but Dick had told him everything a week after Bruce's death.

Dick knew he couldn't keep his pretense up much longer and Batman would either have to be replaced or announced dead. He never wanted to hear the latter.

The hour was nearing four one morning and Dick still hadn't gone to bed, instead he sat in the darkest recesses of the cave researching a compound he had pulled off of a crook.

He never heard Alfred coming, "I say sir, you should be in bed."

"I'll sleep when this is done," Dick waved him off after accepting a cup of hot chocolate.

"If you're not careful, Master Robin, you will turn into Batman at this pace," Alfred regretted his words as he watched pain flit across the teen's face. He sighed, "You know that you are not obligated have to take up his personal crusade, correct? You know that his burden isn't yours to bear?"

"I know, Alfie," Dick ignored the glare he received at the use of the butler's nickname. "I feel like a part of him is still here if I keep working like we always did. I need to keep Batman alive."

And there it was, the very thing Alfred so feared, that Dick would indeed take over his father's mantle. And he knew there was nothing he could say to persuade the boy otherwise.

The Englishman sighed again, tucked the silver serving tray underneath his arm, and headed for the stairs. "I suppose there's nothing I can say to convince you otherwise?"

Dick shook his head.

"Then you should notify the League, or at the very least your friends. They've been very worried about you and they deserve to know what's going on."

Dick nodded again and went back to his work.

The next day he arranged a meeting at the Watchtower. Everyone was there.

Robin waited for everyone to crowd into the spacious living room before he turned from a large window overlooking Outer Space. Roy and the team had taken the spots closest to him on his left. Black Canary, Green Arrow, Superman, and Flash had taken the spots closest to him on his right. Everyone he had grown up with and trusted stood in this room, silently lending him support as he prepared to address the Justice League alone for the first time in his life.

Robin clasped his hands behind his back and forced himself to hold his chin high. "As you all know by now, Batman's dead."

He paused, working to keep his emotions unreadable as he watched more than several members of the league attempt to conceal a tear or to cry openly, "a lot of you have been asking what's going on in Gotham and what's to be done about Batman's absence."

Several heroes nodded their heads, there had already been meetings concerning the situation in Gotham.

"You don't have to worry about us," Robin faltered slightly at his word choice, "Gotham has always been a Bat's responsibility and I'm taking care of things."

He could hear some whispering starting at this statement; he received several looks, from pity to suspicion. "I feel I owe you all an explanation before I go and lock myself away like Batman used to."

There were many appreciative nods.

With stoic features Robin turned to Black Canary, "I told you once that I didn't want to be Batman. I was wrong; Batman is all I ever wanted to be. I wanted to be like him, to be like my father."

"After everything we've been through, you all deserve to know who I am." Silently he took his mask off, ignoring the gasps that issued from both Megan and Artemis. "My name's Dick Grayson, my parents were murdered before my eyes when I was eight, Bruce Wayne took me in a several weeks later, a month after that I found out that Bruce was Batman, I became Batman's partner when I was nine, now he's dead too."

He dropped the mask on the floor. There were many gasps of surprise from the League and Young Justice as he looked up at them with the saddest blue eyes that they ever saw. Only a few members of the Justice League had known his identity, but with Batman gone, he didn't see the need to hide it from them any longer. "I've taken charge of Wayne Enterprises and all of Bruce's assets. I'm withdrawing my membership in Young Justice. I hope one day you will be able to accept me into the League in my father's place, but until such a time I am taking over Batman's responsibilities in Gotham."

A surprised murmur ran through the gathered heroes before utter chaos broke out as they all tried to talk at once.

"He's got to be joking, he's just a kid!" said one of the Green Lanterns.

"Robin, you cannot do this!" Aqualad implored.

"It isn't your place to become Batman," Superman scowled.

"Rob, dude, you can't just leave us," the indignant voice of Kid Flash rang out above the clamour.

"Go for it," Roy encouraged before he was whacked hard upside the head by both Black Canary and Green Arrow.

"Don't listen to Roy!" begged Green Arrow.

"Are you sure, Robin?" Wonder Woman asked in a motherly voice.

Robin silenced them all with a glare as fierce as his mentor's, "my decision is final, you all can back me up or cut ties. Either way, nothing you say is going to sway me."

With a sad smile, he waved goodbye and stepped into a transporter.

_"Robin B-01" _the computer recognized his signature aloud in the deathly quiet hall.

"It's Batman now," and with that, Robin was gone, leaving his signature domino mask behind on the floor.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Dick stepped out of the abandoned phone booth in Gotham, switched into civilian clothing and began the trek home.

Alfred was waiting for him in the Batcave with a warm cup of hot chocolate and several lemon bars, a pastry he knew the boy was found of. "I assume you told them the news, master Richard."

Dick nodded and slid into an empty chair, relieving Alfred of the hot chocolate and pastries as he did.

"And how did they react?" Alfred pressed.

"They'll get used to it in time."

Alfred sighed, master Richard was becoming more and more like master Bruce with every passing day.

After several minutes of silence Dick spoke again, "Alfred, I'm not sure I'm ready to be Batman, I'm not sure I'm ready to take on his burden."

"I should say not, master Richard. Even master Bruce was a good many years older when he took up the mantle, are you sure you won't reconsider?"

"Yes Alfred, I'm sure. Gotham can't survive without Batman, someone will need to replace him, and I'm the most logical choice."

"Logic aside, master Richard, you are still a boy, you shouldn't feel responsible to bear the burden that master Bruce bore for so many years. You don't have to be Batman," the kindly butler placed a hand on the boy's shoulders. "I'm sure he would understand."

Dick looked back at the cowl he held in his hands, "No Alfred, I don't need to be Batman, I want to be. He protected so many, saved lives, put away murderers, he was there for me when I needed him most. I want to carry on his legacy. I want to continue the work that he died for."

A deep sadness shone in Alfred's eyes as he watched Dick clench his jaw and tense his shoulders. He did not want the boy to take this on his own shoulders, but he knew he couldn't stop him. Dick and Bruce were so alike in that manner, hard headed to the end.

After a long pause Dick nodded to himself and looked up at the butler. And in that moment Alfred knew that he was longer staring at a boy, but a man. "Very well, master Richard; I will make a new suit to match your measurements."

Alfred turned to go, but Dick stopped him with a simple sentence, "No, Alfred, I want to wear his."

This time the butler didn't say anything, he swallowed thickly and nodded his head before ascending the stairs to the empty Manor far above with a tear in his eye, "he'll never be the same again, master Bruce. He's taken your path, whatever shall I do?"

Far below, in the lowest depths of the Batcave, Dick pulled his mentor's cowl over his face, ignoring how it was made to fit someone else, as he stared at the framed picture of him and Bruce soaring over the rooftops of Gotham. With sadness he put his hand over the figure of Batman, tracing the unmistakable silhouette of his mentor. He heaved another sigh and let his hand fall away, "I'm the Batman now."

**A/N So I didn't really like the beginning or the part with the League, felt too forced. But I loved the part with Alfred, probably my favourite part! **

**Anyway, this was a request fic for Tydeerose who requested:**

**Batman dies and robin is a mess, but basically how he handles life without batman. I want him all sad and crying then stepping up and taking on the batman mantle and Wayne enterprises. I also have an image of him clinging to batman's cape. oh and have young justice in it and I also pictured a big dramatic scene, with all the league and young justice there, and robin revels his ID (manly to the team cause the league knows) and saying that he is the air to Wayne enterprises and must be the CEO to that and Batman mantle.**

**(I just copy and pasted that request because I was feeling lazy).**

**Hope this was along the lines of what you had in your mind, Tydeerose!**


	37. Lord of the Rings

Lord of the Ring

By

Angelina

**Answer to Reader Question: I got a PM the other day from a reader who asked why I didn't include the new team members in my stories. There are several reasons for this: **

**This story started out with the six team members (Robin, Superboy, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Artemis, and Megan). For writing purposes, it will take a while longer for me to get comfortable with the characterization of the new characters and I will probably not write about them in this story until I think I can create passable dialogue and situations for each of the characters, sorry. ****I'm really annoyed that CN feels the need to have a love interest for every dang team member. Seriously, the whole team can't be dating each other. I know a lot of you have not seen the last episode as it won't air until two days (writing this on the 19th) and when you do you'll see what I mean about love interests. And I'm very angry with Zatanna as I feel she's too powerful a character and I don't like her as Robin's love interest. Robin is 13, he shouldn't have a love interest and I like him as more of a lone wolf character (similar to Batman). That being said, however, I could go for a love interest for him sometime in the future when he's older and if they develop it properly, not out of the blue. If they took the time to actually develop these relationships and not have them be so one-dimensional then I would love to watch it. Like they're doing with Spitfire, that relationship is so implied but it's so much fun to watch the characters try and realize what they feel for each other, not meet and fall in love three seconds later, this isn't a Disney movie! **

**Long rant aside, I hope this answered your question, reader! Stay tuned for later series should you want to see me include other members! **

**Okay, I may include Zatanna as I'm getting a better feel for her character and feel that I could actually write believable dialogue, but she probably won't have a relationship with Robin for a good while, if ever. **

**Now on with the story!**

* * *

><p>It was snowing, the zeta tubes were shut down, and the team was sealed in the cave. The blizzard outside and been raging for three days and had held the team captive that long. By now everyone was going crazy.<p>

Wally was throwing a bouncy ball in the air, racing around the inside of the mountain, to try and get back before the ball fell to the floor. Aqualad was re-reading his collection of books while going on about Middle Earth to a very uninterested Superboy who had actually decided to turn the television on.

Megan was in the kitchen baking ten dozen cookies and force feeding them to Wally. Artemis was blaring her music from the gym as she emptied her 341st quiver into a target.

Roy was sorely regretting his decision to pay the team a surprise visit as he got into his tenth argument with Artemis over music choices, Lad Gaga should not be played that loud or that much.

Robin was updating the cave's security system for the fifth time, trying to tune out the hullabaloo going on around him.

And Green Lantern, their den mother for the day, was shut up in the guest room, a heavy sedative blocking out a mountain of teens with high-tech toys. He was only supposed to babysit them for a day, but that day had come and gone and two more had been added. He very much regretted agreeing to fill in for Black Canary and was praying that he could get out of this hell hole as soon as possible. The first second zeta tubes came back on, he had dibs.

Back in the control room, the noise reached a crescendo as multiple arguments broke out all over the mountain and teens yelled at each other. Robin sighed, was one day of peace and quiet too much to ask for?

With an annoyed expression, he flipped a switch on his command board and all over the mountain, the power went out, music ceased, the oven switched off, the TV went blank, and Kaldur's reading light winked out.

Everything became deathly still, a heavy silence hanging over the dark mountain. Robin smiled and leaned back in his chair, silence truly was golden.

"Oi! Who turned off the lights?" and the silence was broken by voice of two angry archers shouting in unison.

Before another argument could break out, however, Wally zoomed back into the common room with something glowing clutched in his hand illuminating his silhouette, "look what I g- umph!"

Not being able to see in the dark, Wally run smack into a wall. And just like that, everyone started laughing, days of stress released with the simple action.

"dats nob funnie," Wally whined, clutching his bleeding nose. "As I wab saying," the speedster picked himself up off the floor, holding his bleeding nose with one and holding out the glowing object with the other, "I swiped Green Lantern's rinthg."

Everyone started talking at once.

"That was not wise, my friend," observed Kaldur.

"You imbecile!" Artemis shrieked.

"Wow, KF, not cool, what if he wakes up?" asked Robin.

"You shouldn't steal Wally," chastised Megan.

"Someone make Robin turn the TV back on, I want to know which toddler won that weird tiara thing," Superboy called over the noise.

Everyone stopped talking and turned towards the sound of the voice. Had the lights been on, they would have seen the fiery blush spreading across Superboy's face.

"Supey, were you watching Toddlers and Tiaras?" asked a confused Robin.

Superboy grunted.

Wally started laughing, spraying the blood from his nose all over the floor. Robin joined him in a second followed shortly by Kaldur. Both Artemis and Megan went off on a long rant about how they loved the show.

After silence had settled over the hall once more, Kaldur spoke again, "what shall we do about the ring, my friends?"

"We should probably return it before GL wakes up," commented Robin.

"I vote we let Wally handle this," Artemis said, "let him take the fall."

And more arguing broke out.

Aqualad managed to stop all of the arguments short by a rather unusual suggestion, "Why don't we play Lord of the Rings?"

Most of the team looked surprised, Megan was confused.

"What's Lord of the Rings?" asked the Martian.

"It's an epic trilogy that was written by J.R.R. Tolkien and turned into three movies a few years back," explained Robin.

"You've never seen them?" Wally asked in amazement, "those are like some of the best movies of all time!"

And before they knew it, Robin had pulled out the DVD collection, "let's watch the movies and if GL is still out when we're done we can play Lord of the Ring."

"Extended editions?" asked an eager speedster.

"You bet!" Robin high-fived him.

The rest of the team agreed and they all settled in for a long movie marathon.

By the time they were done, Megan was crying and Robin and Wally were running commentary on the best scenes while Kaldur pointed every single place where the movie deviated from the book or left something out.

While Robin and Kaldur fell into a rant about what was missing from the movies, Wally checked in on Green Lantern to find the hero still out cold.

"You guys want to play now?" he asked as he ran back into the common room.

"Sure," they agreed.

"So who's going to be who?"

"I want to be Arwen!" squealed Megan.

"Of course she does," Artemis commented sarcastically under her breath, "I'll be Eowyn."

"Rob should totally be the four hobbits!"

"Why am I the hobbit?" Robin demanded vehemently.

"Because you're a midget," Wally replied.

"And what are you, the dwarf?" Robin jabbed his finger into Wally's chest.

"Uh-uh, I am so Aragorn who gets the hot elven chick."

"You hear that, Wally?" asked Robin, "that's Tolkien turning in his grave at the idea of you ever being Aragorn."

Wally was left trying to come up with a cutting remark as the rest of the team burst out into another argument over who would be which character.

Aqualad sighed, "please stop arguing, my friends, if it would help, I can assign roles."

After several minutes the team reluctantly agreed.

"Artemis, you can be Eowyn and Boromir," the archer nodded her assent.

"Megan, you can be Arwen and Legolas," Wally smirked, pretty boy elf played by a girl, that was fitting.

"Kid Flash and Robin, you can be the hobbits?" instructed Aqualad.

"Why do we have to be the hobbits?" Wally asked disappointedly.

Kaldur's lips quirked into a smile, "natural chemistry."

Robin glared at him.

"Conner, you can be Aragorn."

"Yes!" it was rare to see such excitement in the clone.

"And I shall be Gandalf," Kaldur finished.

"Figures," Robin muttered, "what about Gimli, you forgot him!"

"Roy has been hiding in his room with a generator, I believe it would prudent to cut power to his room."

And evil smirk crossed Robin's face at the suggestion, he quickly whipped out his computer and shut down the power to Roy's generator.

"Oi! Birdie, you better turn my power back on!" a very angry shout carried down the hallway to the team.

"Yo, Roy! We need your help over here!" Wally hollered.

Roy stormed into the room, "what?"

"We're playing Lord of the Ring and we needed someone to play Gimli. All you have to do is stand in the corner and quote the movie."

Robin turned on his best puppy dog eyes as both he and Wally begged the archer to play with them, "Okay! Fine! You win, I'll play your stupid game!"

And thus began the first ever game of Lord of the Ring. They managed to get all the way to Mount Doom in just under a day, with much arguing, laughing, and out of character moments.

"Oi, Master Frodo, get you lazy butt over here, I see Mount Doom!" Wally, currently playing the part of Sam, called.

"Would it kill you to try and stay in character for one minute?" asked a very peeved Robin. "And we've been seeing Mount Doom for the past many days, we're supposed to be desperately climbing it at the moment and having a very heartwarming display of friendship and devotion, not gawking at a volcano we never wanted to see in the first place!"

"Picky, picky, picky," Robin was going to strangle that speedster first chance he got.

"Come on, KF, we're almost there, try to play your part for ten more minutes and you're done. Now, where were we?"

"You were at the scene where Sam selflessly carries Frodo up Mount Doom," Aqualad supplied, eager to see the scene acted out.

"Dude, that is so gay, I am not doing that."

Aqualad looked like he hand been punched in the face, and Robin was very indignant, "it is not gay, it's a heartwarming display of friendship and devotion."

"No, it's two gay hobbits being gay."

Both Kaldur and Robin lost it at the same moment, "they're not gay!"

"Yeah they are."

"For the love of Tolkien, would you please think!"

"Okay, you know what, I give it to the giant eagle who flies over Mount Doom, drops the ring in and ends the war in five minutes. Really don't know Tolkien spent 1000 pages telling a story that could have been over in like 50," shrugged Wally.

Robin's eye twitched.

Kaldur's mouth hit the floor.

Both pounced on Wally at the same time, "take it back!"

The speedster had no time to get away from his friends and was thus forced to curl into a ball as Kaldur and Robin beat him mercilessly with the cardboard tubes they had been using as swords.

Roy joined in beating Wally a moment later, "best idea you've guys have had in days!"

Megan and Artemis were helpless with laughter. Conner was actually giggling.

Wally was begging for mercy.

Suddenly Green Lantern's voice cut through the team's merriment, "who stole my ring?"

Six voices rose in unison as Robin, Artemis, Kaldur, Megan, Roy, and Conner fled the common room together, "Wally did it!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN While some of you may not know, I am a huge Harry Potter fan (I just don't write ff for it). So, Pottermore opened to the public the other day and I signed as soon as I found out. I am now anxiously awaiting my welcome letter. Until then I am trying to occupy myself with things, like re-reading Lord of the Rings (for the 23rd time), making two gallons of soup, learning how to play four new songs on the piano, rearranging my room, rearranging to spice cabinet, pruning the already pruned roses, drying more spices from the garden, and writing YJ Fanfiction. **

**I am now out of things to do, besides refresh my email once every ten seconds.**

**Someone is going to die…**


	38. Bad Day

Bad Day

By

Angelina

As Batman knelt on one of Gotham's many piers with his injured son lying at his feet, he couldn't help but think how bad this day had turned out to be.

It had all started that morning when Bruce had been woken by the sounds of someone vomiting in the bathroom down the hall. Quickly hurrying down the hall, the man found a very pale Tim cleaning his face of vomit with a moistened washcloth.

Tim looked up as Bruce walked in. "Flu," he muttered.

Bruce nodded and escorted his ward back to bed, being sure he was well settled in before leaving to find Alfred.

Strange, Bruce wondered to himself, Alfred never sleeps in this late.

The billionaire made his way down the grand staircase and down a long side hall to find Alfred's apartment at the end. The apartment consisted of a separate bathroom, kitchenette, a tiny sitting room, and an equally small bedroom. Many years ago Bruce had tried to get Alfred to move into one of the many unoccupied bedrooms in the Manor, but Alfred had refused, preferring to live in the space the deceased Wayne's had allotted to him.

When Bruce knocked on the door and received no response, he opened the door to find Alfred slumped on his threadbare couch in nothing but a large green sweater, union jack boxers, and gartered socks.

"This is going to be a long, bad day," Bruce mumbled to himself after taking one look at Alfred and hearing another round of retching above him in Tim's bathroom.

Pulling his cellphone out Bruce dialed a number he knew by heart.

"Bruce," Dick picked up on the second ring, "what on earth are you doing calling me during class?"

"Sorry Dick, I need some help."

Bruce heard Dick sigh on the other line, "what is it this time?"

"Tim's got the flu."

"So, get him some medicine and give him to Alfred," Dick paused to listen to someone on his end of the line, "hold on Bruce. Professor crabby pants is threatening me bodily harm if I keep talking on my phone in class. Yeesh, I'm leaving already."

Bruce felt bad as he heard the professor giving Dick an earful for having his phone on in class.

"Alright, I'm free. So why are you calling me over the flu?"

"Alfred's got it pretty bad as well and I can't take care of both of them and my board meeting."

Bruce heard Dick sigh on the other end and the sound of a car unlocking, "I'm on my way. You owe me though."

Bruce hung up the phone and took his usual seat in the front parlor as he waited for Dick to arrive.

It had been a little over a year since Dick had decided to go to a local University.

Bruce had been reluctant to let the boy go, but had eventually agreed to let Dick move out. His relationship with the boy had become more strained over the years and as much as Bruce wanted to hold onto Dick forever, he knew that if he did he would eventually lose him altogether.

But it ended up proving to be a good decision as Bruce had found that letting Dick go was the best thing he could have done for both of them as their relationship began improving.

He found that whenever he needed his first son, Dick would always be there with his usual joking and wordplay.

Dick arrived shortly afterwards, unceremoniously throwing open the front door, and immediately making his way to the fridge to raid the leftovers from the previous night's roast beef.

Bruce grimaced at Dick's bad manners but let the matter go as he had probably called the boy over before he could have lunch.

After Dick had finished eating, the two set to work. Bruce to deliver medicine and take care of his board meeting over the phone and Dick to make dinner and help Bruce clean up vomit from the Persian rug in Tim's room.

Really, Tim and Alfred probably would have been better off without their aid as Bruce got the dosing instructions wrong for Tim, gave Alfred Dramamine instead of fever reducer, and Dick burned dinner.

"You guys are completely incompetent, you know that?" Tim muttered. He was currently sitting on the couch watching a documentary on the rise of the Third Reich. He glared at Bruce as the billionaire tried for the third time to get the proper dosage. He finally succeeded and tried to shove the measuring spoon in Tim's mouth.

"You do know you're giving me cough syrup for nausea, right?" Tim pointed out, not even glancing at the measuring spoon currently shoved in his face.

Bruce glared at the boy, trying to ignore the laughter coming from the kitchen as Dick listened in on his failure. Tim swiped the medicine bottles from Bruce and measured out the proper dosage of the correct medication for himself. "Why don't you two go on patrol before Dick manages to burn the house down?"

"I heard that!" Dick hollered as he tried to clean a pancake off the ceiling.

Bruce's eye twitched, he did not want to know how that got stuck up there.

"Seriously you two are the Dynamic Duo, you know the periodic table backwards, you can come up with an antidote for just about any poison known to every race thus far encountered, you can fight off the galaxies worst, you can save the entire world, and yet you're clueless when it came to dealing with common place illnesses or making pancakes," Tim sighed as he got up.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dick asked as he finally succeeded at pulling the pancake off the ceiling, only to lose his balance and fall off the counter, landing on his rear end, the pancake falling on his face as he did so.

"I'm going to take care of Alfred since both of you clearly have no clue what you're doing," replied Tim in a bored tone as he disappeared down the hall leading to Alfred's apartment.

Dick picked himself up from the floor, chucking the pancake in the garbage, "So, how about, up for an early patrol?"

Bruce shrugged and the two meandered off for the Batcave, an amiable silence falling between them like it had for all the years they had been Batman and Robin.

Patrol had just added to Bruce's already lousy day.

Bane and Killer Croc had teamed up to rob a warehouse that night. The fight had been a bad one. Batman came away with a torn costume, a few bruised ribs, and a gash over his right eye that he would have a hell of a time covering up. Nightwing came away with several cracked ribs, a dislocated pelvis, and a concussion.

And once again, Batman owed his life to his partner. The young man had taken the rather nasty hit that Batman hadn't seen coming his way until it was much too late.

Stumbling onto the pier outside the warehouse, Batman gently laid Nightwing on the ground, taking stock of his injuries.

In an ideal situation Batman would have gotten the kid back to the Batcave where Alfred would have sedated him so he and Bruce could reset his hip and bandage his ribs. But the Batcave was at least half an hour away if Bruce broke eight traffic laws and Nightwing had refused the sedative he had tried to give him. Bruce was either forced to reset the limb on his own, or risk further aggravation of the injury transporting Nightwing back to the Batcave. He chose the former.

"I'm going to have to reset this," Batman instructed as his hands ghosted over his son's dislocated limb.

"Just, get it over with," Nightwing ground out through clenched teeth.

Batman complied and reset with the limb with a quick jerk, Nightwing's cry of pain still echoing in his ears hours after the task was done.

Carefully, Batman helped Nightwing stumble back to the Batmobile.

The ride back to the Batcave was silent save for Nightwing's labored breathing. Batman could tell how hard Dick was trying to hide the pain he was in as he struggled to take breath. And again, Batman found himself cursing this no good day.

Once back to their base, Bruce helped Dick over to a medical table where he bandaged the boy's cracked ribs and took care of his cuts and bruises. His concussion would have to be checked hourly, but both heroes were well used to that routine by now.

Dick was fairly out of it by now, the pain medication and concussion putting him in a state somewhere between sleep and the waking land.

"What a day, a no good, rotten day," Bruce mumbled to himself as he finished patching Dick up. Everyone in the house was now either injured or sick.

When Bruce was finally satisfied with the patch job on his son, he shook the boy.

However, Dick didn't budge, instead the eighteen-year-old stuck him arms out like a toddler desiring to be carried. Bruce sighed, "you're getting too big to pick up, Dick."

Dick looked up at him with half-lidded eyes and an expression of utter exhaustion and pain. After a minute, Bruce relented and gathered the young man into his arms as he had done many times over the years.

"You know what you did tonight was reckless," Bruce ventured as he boarded the elevator.

Dick gave a noncommittal grunt.

"You shouldn't give yourself up for me like that."

Dick fixed his father with a glare worthy of Batman.

Bruce sighed, "how many times will I have to tell you not to take risks like that?"

"Always one more," replied Dick, his voice scratchy.

Bruce smiled sadly at that, it would always be one more time. At least until one more time got him killed, like it had Jason. No, he wasn't going to think about that now, not when he was just climbing out of the black hole of depression he had slipped into after his second sidekick's death.

Exiting the elevators, Bruce carried Dick up the stairs, ignoring the aching muscles in his back and arms. "You're getting heavier, have you been eating right?"

Dick mumbled something about DaddyBats that Bruce chose to ignore. Arriving at Dick's old bedroom (and the one he still used whenever visiting), Bruce deposited his son on the bed, tucking him in carefully. Satisfied that Dick was comfortable, Bruce turned to leave, "I'll be back in an hour to check on you."

He was almost out the door when a voice stopped him, "thanks, dad."

Bruce smiled as he left. Maybe this day hadn't been that bad after all.

**Angelina: I took some artistic liberties with this as the new episode left so many more questions than answers. I have no clue if Dick is still in Gotham, going to college, or in Bludhaven. He's only eighteen and he seems to have a good relationship with Bruce so my comic history is out the door (and even that history has been revised more times than I want to count).**

**In other news, I just watched the new YJ episode and Greg Weisman is going to die a slow and painful death for what he has done. I am not very happy, and am only watching the show to figure out what happened in the _five_ years they decided to skip! **

**That being said, however, I am excited to see what this new team will bring. And Superboy and Megan have broken up *happy dance* Maybe now Greg will consider adding some _depth_ to relationships (I'm not opposed to them getting back together as long as we get something other than a one-dimensional relationship).**

**Sigh, I never wanted Tim Drake…**

**Arthur: Just get on with your ridiculously long Author's Note…**

**Angelina: Shut up, Arthur, no one asked you what you thought.**

**Arthur: In that case, I for one am very intrigued by this new twist.**

**Angelina: Of course you are…**

**Arthur: I wish to announce, since I am the muse, that I will not be giving Angelina any plot bunnies for the new series for a while (okay, maybe you get some batclan stories, but that's about it). We both wish to get comfortable with the entire cast of new characters and the new personalities that the old characters will have after five years. **

**Angelina: If this causes me to lose any readers, I apologize and blame it on Arthur. **

**Arthur: Don't even bloody think about blaming your idiocy on me, I most certainly didn't ask to get stuck inside your head.**

**Angelina: Shut up, Arthur!**


	39. 2012

End of Days

By

Angelina

**A/N I watched 'Deep Impact,' 'Knowing,' and '2012' this week and it gave me so many plot bunnies. So here is what happens when I watch too many disaster movies in a weekend!**

* * *

><p><strong>Watchtower: December 18, 2012<strong>

Bruce was exhausted. He was going on his fourth day without sleep and his body was desperately begging him to give it the rest it needed. But he couldn't.

He was on monitor duty.

He hated monitor duty with a passion, even if he was the one that created the job. Really he shouldn't be here right now. It was Superman's turn, but the Big Blue Boy Scout had skipped out to go on a date with Louis Lane and Batman was the only hero not doing something of importance.

So he was stuck here, alone in the Watchtower, with nothing to do but stare at monitors and make sure everything was hunky-dory in the known Universe.

Superman would die a slow and painful death involving kryptonite…

* * *

><p><strong>Wayne Manor: December 18, 2012<strong>

Dick set aside the last of his homework. As much as he loved calculus, he hated the homework. Mr. Daniels, his teacher, just loved to give extra problems every night and a pop quiz at least once a week. Dick needed to stay on his toes to pull off an A in the class. Anything less than that and Bruce would yank him from patrol and Young Justice in the blink of an eye.

But now he was done, and just in time too. Since Batman was at the Watchtower it was up to him to patrol the streets of Gotham that night. He had less than half an hour until he was expected to be on patrol. Dick sighed and stretched, cracking several vertebrae in his neck.

After stretching Dick descended to the Batcave where he donned his costume, clipped on his cape, pulled on his gloves and boots, and fixed his utility belt in place. The last thing he put on was his mask. He was no longer Dick Grayson Wayne, now he was Robin the Boy Wonder.

Robin didn't look up as Alfred entered, "hey Alfred."

"Good evening, master Robin. I trust you are ready for patrol?"

"Sure am. It's nice that Bruce trusts me with this for a change," commented Robin as Alfred handed him his com unit.

"Indeed."

Within minutes, Robin was ready to go, his patrol route entered into the bat-computer and his Robin-cycle gassed and ready to go.

Alfred, however, was bent on a last minute safety check. "If anything happens you know to activate your emergency signal?"

"Yes, Alfred."

"And the ground rules, sir?" Alfred cocked an eyebrow.

Robin sighed, "always keep your tracer on, stick to the programmed patrol route, don't get into anything above your head, if you do get in over your head, call Batman. I know the ground rules, Alfie."

Alfred nodded in satisfaction, "very good, master Robin. All set then?"

Robin nodded, pulled his helmet on, and swung his leg over the bike. Before he revved the engine to take off into the night, however, he turned to Alfred for a parting shot, "do you think Batman will let me drive the Batmobile next time?"

Alfred chuckled, "I very much doubt that."

Robin shrugged and sped off into the night. But before he could reach his destination, Alfred called in over his com unit. "Master Robin?"

"Yes, Alfred?"

"Don't die."

"You got it, Alfie," by now, that was on old saying. However, no matter how many times it was said it carried the same weight. In this business one never knew which night would be their last.

Patrol was rather uneventful, Robin stopped a mugging before it could really get started, and a he stopped a purse snatcher. But, other than that, not a lot of crime was being done on his route.

Robin was about ready to call it a night and head home when the voice of Alfred broke through his mind, "Master Robin, there is a robbery taking at the jewelry store on Fifth and Hampshire, multiple suspects and an unconfirmed sighting of Catwoman."

"Got it, Alfie. I'm on my way." Robin set out swinging over the rooftops of Gotham.

About halfway there, he was stopped again by Alfred's voice, "Sir, the sighting of Catwoman has been confirmed. I strongly recommend that you gain Batman's assistance on this."

"Yeah, so he can make kissy faces at her," Robin made a face.

Alfred sighed, "you know very well that the last time Bruce acted in such a manner he was under her influence."

"It's all the other times I'm concerned about," Robin half-joked as he sent a signal to the Watchtower and set off again for the jewelry store. "I'll be on standby until Batman gets here, but if it looks like it's going downhill, I'm stopping it."

"Very well, master Robin. Do take care of yourself," Alfred signed off.

Robin perched on a ledge of a building opposite the jewelry store that afforded him a good vantage point. From his spot he could easily see Catwoman and three armed goons inside, picking the place clean of precious gems and metals.

He waited almost a minute for Batman to come, but when the hero did not materialize by his side; he knew he had to act or else risk Catwoman absconding with the jewels.

Pausing for another ten seconds just to be sure Batman wasn't coming, Robin shot his grappling gun and launched himself at the jewelry store.

With precise calculations Robin threw several smoke pellets in through the broken front window before activating his infrared vision, and throwing himself throw the front window.

Robin landed gracefully on his feet, immediately sinking into an offensive stance as smoke completely filled the store.

Taking out the three goons was no challenge. Two fell unconscious to a well-placed bat-a-rang, the other received Robin's boot to his face when he started to turn around in circle whilst firing his assault rifle.

Robin hoped the place had good insurance as he heard more display cases shatter.

With all the goons down, Robin turned his attention fully on Catwoman. He figured she was either somewhere in the smoke nabbing a few more jewels, waiting to try a sneak attack, or fleeing with the jewels she had while she let her henchmen take the fall.

Robin was willing to bet the latter. Turning his attention to the rafters and exposed ductwork, Robin spotted a heat signature in the clearing smoke. Aiming his grappling gun, the Boy Wonder swung into the rafters in pursuit.

He didn't notice, however, the blade that came whistling his way, until it was almost on top of him. Turning at the last second, he managed to catch the blade in his arm instead of his heart. It was a superficial wound, but it hurt like hell.

He bit back his grunt of pain and heard an angry cat-like hiss over to his right. Turning in that direction Robin saw the boots of Catwoman vanishing into a vent, he hastened in pursuit.

Wasting no time, Robin tracked her movement through the vents, placing himself at the most strategic exit. He was not going to chase this particular villain through the vents if he could help it.

As predicted, Catwoman emerged from the vent's exit, but she had anticipated a possible pursuit and threw her own smoke bombs before fully emerging. Had Robin not been quicker in turning his infrared vision back on, he probably would have lost her.

Robin shot out a line and swooped in, grabbing the jewels from Catwoman's hands and activating a net. He finished his swing with a front flip which he landed gracefully on the rooftop of the jewelry store, leaving the villainess hopelessly entangled in the net below.

Too late he noticed the blowpipe in Catwoman's hands. His mind had less than a second before a dart entered neck. Exactly 5.2 seconds later, he lost consciousness as Catwoman escaped the net and ran off into Gotham.

His last thought before darkness overtook him was how disappointed Batman would be.

* * *

><p><strong>Watchtower: December 18, 2012<strong>

Far above in the empty Watchtower, Batman exited the monitor room rushing to get to Gotham before Robin engaged a deadly criminal on his own. He never noticed the small blip that began to sound on one of the monitors.

* * *

><p><strong>AN Ok, reasoning behind Catwoman returning for the jewels is that she would rather live to steal another day than be captured by a Bat angry at her for taking out precious Robin. **

**This is a potential new series that I wanted to try, but I thought I'd give it a test run on Brothers to see if there was any interest in it before I devote a lot of time to this particular plot (yes this is actually a story arc which involve plot, and Robin getting hurt, and someone dying). **

**What'd you guys think of it; potential series material?**


	40. Sparkly

Sparkly

By

Angelina

It was rare day at Mount Justice. There were no missions to complete, no training to be worked through, no school to attend. It was a sunny and happy Saturday, one in which the team could enjoy who they really were at heart, teenagers.

Superboy was in the gym, the sound of a punching bag drifting softly through the mountain, a testament to his continued ire at his father.

Artemis, deeming it prudent to take a break from training, was enjoying perfecting a recipe for cookie dough ice cream.

Wally sat sullenly in the kitchen, clutching his reddening hand. Artemis had slapped it away with a wooden spoon when he attempted to steal some of the ice cream before it was ready.

Aqualad was curled up on the couch, a book in hand and at least three others scattered around him. A cup of tea sat on the table beside the couch from which Aqualad would gingerly sip every few pages.

Megan sat beside him engrossed in the book clutched in her hand, her eyes rapidly scanning the pages as she hurried to reach the ending.

Robin, perched high above the others in the rafters of Mount Justice, was also enjoying reading. Except his book was neither the classic literature that sat in Kaldur's hands, nor the modern bestselling fiction being so desperately clung to by Megan. Rather, he was reading the diaries of his teammates.

After their disastrous mental training exercise that Megan had taken over, Black Canary insisted that the entire team keep diaries for therapy. She had neglected to consider the curiosity and mischievousness of the little bird. It had taken him less than five minutes to locate all five diaries of his teammates. This would definitely teach them not to assume something was hidden well.

Robin's laughter carried down from the rafter periodically as he became privy to the knowledge of his teammates innermost thoughts, feelings, and fears. Also, he was rather enjoying Superboy's account of cuddling with a kitten. The picture that fell out from that section was going in his blackmail box for a later date.

And it was because of his thoughts being so absorbed by the accounts he was reading, that he was not prepared for the earsplitting screech that sounded out through the otherwise silent cave.

Placing the diaries back into a secret compartment in the rafter, where his own was concealed, Robin shot out a grappling line and gracefully landed in the middle of the common room, from which he estimated that the shriek originated from.

He was joined a second later by Wally.

"What happened?" the speedster asked, concern clearly in his voice.

Megan squealed again in answer and Wally was by her side in a heartbeat, "what's wrong beautiful."

Megan, however, didn't answer, too concerned over the book now being twisted nervously in her hands. After a few minutes of both speedster and acrobat pestering her with questions, she tore her eyes away from the book to stare teary-eyed at the two teenagers, "It-it's Edward! Oh it's horrible! He thinks Bella is dead and is going to kill himself! He just can't do that, not when Bella is still alive and loves him so much," she continued wailing loudly.

"Oh no," swore Robin as he realized just what book she was reading.

"Tell me you're not reading the _Twilight _series?" groaned Wally, his face in his hands.

"Kaldur gave it to me and I just can't stop reading. I have to know what happens!"

Robin and Wally shot death glares at Aqualad as he shrank further back into the couch, the other three books in the series clutched protectively in his arms.

It was only then that the two teenage superheroes noticed the shirts their friends were wearing. Megan wore a pink shirt with _Team Edward_ scrawled across in black lettering. Kaldur wore a blue shirt with _Team Jacob_ scrawled across in red lettering.

"Oh no, not more fanpires!" Wally groaned.

Megan and Kaldur smiled at the nickname and launched into a rant about how much they loved sparkly vampires before either hero could stop them.

Robin's eye twitched.

The argument went on for nearly an hour with Dick and Wally groaning about how bad the series was, while Megan and Kaldur defended its worth. Artemis stood in the background, her ice cream now in the freezer, and watched with an amused expression.

Finally, Robin lost it.

"Okay, that's it!" he shrieked, tearing the book away from Megan. "Twilight is officially banned, forever!"

Both Martian and Atlantian wailed as they were divested of their coveted series.

"You do not have authority over what we chose to partake in during our own time! You cannot do this, Robin!" argued Aqualad.

"Watch me."

Hearing the commotion, Superboy wandered into the common room to see Megan and Kaldur crying, Wally dancing up and down on a book, Artemis standing in the background with ice cream smeared on her cheek and her hands on her hips, and Robin holding aloft a rather thick book.

Staring closer at the book Superboy realized it was _Twilight_. The clone shot a deadly glare at the book, he hated sparkly vampires.

None of the teenagers had expected the book to ignite in Robin's hands, least of all Superboy.

Robin dropped the book with a cry of surprise as it was consumed in fire.

Everyone looked accusingly to Superboy who stared back at them, dumfounded. The fire in his eyes slowly died.

"Looks like someone got heat vision," Wally started laughing.

Robin and Artemis joined in a few seconds later, their laughter carrying to the rafters. Megan cried harder, the ashes of her precious book clutched in her green hands.

Aqualad tried to sneak out of the room with his remaining Twilight books concealed behind his back, but Robin stopped him cold with a glare that rivaled his mentor's.

Before anyone could make another move, Artemis waltzed across the common room, snatched the remaining three books from Kaldur, and headed for the exit, "who's up for s'mores?"

Robin and Wally nodded eagerly.

"I've got the chocolate!" the speedster hollered as he dashed for the kitchen to get the supplies. He then grabbed Robin by the arm and propelled him outside, Artemis following in his wake.

Superboy, however, continued to stare at the burned book on the floor, somehow disbelieving that he had been the cause of the it's demise.

Artemis smiled, "why don't you light the fire, Conner."

Superboy looked up gratefully at Artemis as she held up the remaining Twilight books and winked.

Tonight would be fun.

**Angelina: Well, and now you all know where my view on Twilight lies. The best book of the Twilight series is a destroyed one! Sorry, I do not mean to offend anyone, but I do not care for the series in the least. If you do like Twilight, this is not meant to offend you. **

**Arthur: Death to sparkly vampires! Kill the bloody lot!**

**Angelina: Uh, I have no control over what Arthurs says, ignore him. **

**Arthur: Don't you ignore me, you wankers! **

**Angelina: Arthur, wash your mouth out and stop swearing in British! **

**Arthur: Make me!**

**Angelina: *sigh* To change the subject, the chapter preceding this one is officially being turned into a series; it can now be found on my profile! I'm really excited to actually attempt something with a large plot!**

**Arthur: What plot? So far all you've written is fluff and blatant foreshadowing. **

**Angelina: Shut up, Arthur!**

**Angelina: In other news, Sherlock aired in America today! I am so excited. Of course, I've already seen the series since I was in the UK while Sherlock was airing so I got to watch it there (five months ahead of the US air date). I watched it anyway and shall now make my family suffer through my rants about it all over again. **

**I have a rather unfortunate obsession with Benedict Cumberbatch…**

**Arthur: Benedict Cumberbatch is so dreamy! Kinda like David Tennant.**

**Angelina: Um…**


	41. Suffocation

Suffocation

By

Angelina

**Robin's POV**

I'm an idiot. Really I am. If I were smarter, than I would have listened to Batman when he told me to stay put at the Manor. But no, I just had to get in on the action in Gotham.

Joker was loose again, and I, the Boy Wonder was going to prove to Batman that I could get him all on my own.

Normally, I wouldn't have been that idiotic as to go after Joker on my own. But lately, Bruce has been treating me like the nine-year-old sidekick I started out as and not like the thirteen-year-old hero I'm turning into.

So I was going to prove to Daddy Bats how wrong he was. I was going to prove that I was capable of handling things on my own.

Yeah, I think the only thing I'm proving right now is how much I need him. Smart, Rob, smart.

But, in all seriousness, I could really use Batman right now. One of his timely rescues would be nice, considering that I was currently tied between two poles and listening to the Joker recite my eulogy.

"So, bird brains, care to guess what I have in store for you?" Joker's words brought me out of my thoughts.

I didn't respond, however, I really didn't want to play his games today. I just wanted to be home, with Bruce and Alfred.

Joker was apparently displeased that I didn't respond to his question because he kicked me, laughing to some joke that only he would find funny.

"You're so boring! Come on, Robbie poo. Come one, little birdy, sing for Uncle J!"

I fixed him with a glare worthy of Batman.

"Oh, so serious!"

I was really getting tired of that line. Was it that hard to come up with another one-liner?

Joker squatted down beside me, just out of my reach and laughed as he retrieved a sack from his jacket. His gloved fingers fumbled with the tie at the top of the sack for several minutes before he managed to wrench the knot open. Upturning the sack, he dumped a pile of yellow minerals out several feet away from me.

"Bet you can't guess what that is?" he practically sang.

I, never one to back down from a challenge, took a moment to note its colour, consistency, and smell. Batman taught me well.

"Sulfur," I hissed as he pulled out a book of matches and I realized what he had planned for me.

"Very good, Robbie poo! I bet you can guess what I'm going to do next." He straightened up and twirled around once before he took a match out. Striking it against one of the poles I was tied to, the match flared to life.

Joker held the burning match up in front of his face as he observed the flame, the twisted smile that was permanently affixed to his face contorted into an even more grotesque sneer.

"You've been a thorn in my side long enough, Boy Blunder," he flicked the burning match at the pile of sulfur near me. It struck the side and immediately poisonous smoke began to rise from the pile.

I glared at him.

"Withing minutes, the fumes from that sulphur will smother you like a blanket. Sleep well!" he laughed loudly, "see, I made a joke. Ha! Sleep well. Hahaha," his laughter slowly faded as the Clown Prince of Crime left.

The sulfur was now emitting a light blue flame and leaking a blood red substance. I knew that sulfur dioxide was being produced and I was inhaling the stuff. Stupid death traps…

I coughed. God, that stuff burned my lungs. I took a deep breath before the air got too saturated with the poisonous gas and held it.

I had to figure out a plan, otherwise I was a goner. I estimated that I only had a few minutes before I inevitably inhaled too much of the gas and my respiratory system failed.

I hoisted myself up some and leaned back against the pole behind me which my arms were tied to. I surveyed the my surroundings again. There were several things that could help me get out of here, but none within reach. Joker had divested me of my utility belt and gloves, a fact for which I detested him more than usual.

Suddenly, a long wire caught my attention. It was the old phone wire and it was in reach! Straining my hands painfully I managed to hook the wire up on one finger. I drew the wire back to me as quickly as I dared until it was within range to be fully grasped in my hands. Had I been in a less dire situation, I would have stopped for a small victory smirk. But I still had a lot of work to accomplish so my smirk would have to wait.

Carefully, I spliced the wire on the rough wooden pole behind me. Taking one end in my left hand and the other in my right, I began tapping out Morse code.

Except that this version of Morse was only known to Alfred, Batman, and I. We had come up with it years ago in case we ever needed to use public communication and didn't want all of Gotham PD showing up.

As I tapped out my S.O.S. and location, I hoped beyond all else that Batman was receiving this. If not, there wasn't much hope for me.

Two minutes passed, and I needed to breathe desperately. Before I could stop myself, I coughed. And that one cough led to more and soon I was choking on the fumes, my lungs on fire from the poisonous gas.

My nose, mouth, eyes, and throat burned with an unholy fire. My chest hurt so badly that every little breath I managed to take were far more painful than broken ribs.

But slowly, my pain started to fade, my Morse code fell into gibberish, and my breathing slowed to an almost non-existent state.

I smiled ruefully as I let my head slump forward onto my chest; it looked like Batman wouldn't arrive in time.

I was done for.

* * *

><p><strong>Batman's POV<strong>

The acrid smell overwhelmed me as I approached the old office building from which Robin's signal originated from. I immediately recognized the bitter smell as sulfur and my heart sank when I noticed the colourless haze pouring out from the broken and boarded windows.

Robin was in there.

I sprinted for the entrance, if I was too late- no I didn't even want to think like that!

With a shout I rushed the door, ramming into it with my shoulder. It immediately gave in to my strength, not wishing to stand in the way of my wrath.

I covered my mouth with my cape as the gas surrounded me. Coughing, I called out to Robin, hoping that he would answer.

But my hope was in vain, for there was no answer given to my shouts.

I continued further into the building and ascended to the second floor. A re-breather was now firmly clamped around my nose and mouth, as the sulfur dioxide pervading the atmosphere had become too thick to breathe.

The worry that had settled in the pit of my stomach was quickly turning into fear. If I needed a re-breather after only a few moments in the gas filled building, than how could Robin have survived?

No! Banishing the thought from my mind I pressed on, I wasn't giving up on Robin!

As I ventured further into the building, the smoke thickened, overtaking everything in its clutches. I could barely make out anything.

"Robin!" with the help of infrared vision in my cowl I spotted him, tied between two poles.

As I hurried over I noticed how still he lay, how he didn't move, even to acknowledge my presence. My boy was never this still, even in sleep. The fear in my heart increased tenfold.

Ripping my glove off, I placed two fingers at the artery in his neck and leaned my ear over his mouth, listening apprehensively.

A faltering and slow heartbeat drummed unsteadily beneath my fingers, but I could not hear nor feel any breath pass from his blue lips. He had stopped breathing!

"No!" For a moment all thought processes in my brain ceased, my mind overwhelmed with the thought of Robin dying. But his heart still beat, if only just. There was still hope, but I had to get him out of this place.

Without a second thought, I whipped out a bat-a-rang and freed Robin from his bonds. Gathering the teen into my arms, I embraced him to me and fled for the exit.

My mind raced, my son lay limply in my arms, unmoving and dying. His lungs were full of poisonous gas. I couldn't revive him with CPR. No, I would have to pump the poison out of his lungs and hope I wasn't too late, hope that he would fight through.

Bursting out into the fresh air I sprinted for the Batmobile where I carefully laid Robin on the ground. Tearing through the supplies carefully stored in strategic places and labeled meticulously, I quickly found the object of my search, a pulmotor.

Taking it out of its canister, I placed the mask over Robin's face and turned the machine on, listening to the whirring sound it made as it strove to fend off the dark tide of death.

I watched as Robin's small chest expanded and contracted mechanically. The motion would have been comforting had it not been artificially induced.

I don't know how much time passed as I knelt next to Robin, my hand over his heart to ensure that it was still beating, waiting for him to breathe.

The pulmotor was doing its job, pumping the sulfur dioxide out of his lungs as it provided oxygen. But Robin wasn't responding, his life slipping farther and farther away while I was helpless to do anything.

I hated that feeling, helplessness, it was what I felt the night I watched my parents die. It was an emotion that I strove to never feel again. Batman was supposed to bring justice, to help the helpless, I wasn't supposed to be in this position. I wasn't supposed to be in a position in which I watched another life that I cared about slip through my fingers, not able to do anything.

"Come on, fight your way back! Don't leave me here in my darkness!" no response was given to my command. I bowed my head, cursing my fate and fighting the despair that was rapidly seizing my heart.

Suddenly I heard a small noise, a cough. At first I thought it was my imagination, but then it happened again and again, until it quickly turned into a violent fit. Robin was coughing, which meant he was breathing.

My head shot up, my eyes alight with hope I dared not hope as I automatically reached forward to gently support Robin's shoulders. The boy shook like a leaf with the severity of his coughing and tears pricked his eyes.

When his body had finally felt rid of the poison in his lungs, he stopped coughing and slumped back into me, "B-Batman…?"

"I'm here, Richard. I'm here," I assured the semi-conscious boy.

He gave a small smile when he realized I was the one holding him, and began to drift into slumber, exhausted from his encounter with death.

"Thank God you're alive!" I whispered into his hair as he fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Robin's POV<strong>

I don't know how long I lay in darkness, but when I finally returned to reality I found myself lying in my bed at Wayne Manor. An oxygen mask was clasped over my nose and mouth, and IV drip carefully inserted into the back of my hand.

It was dark outside my window, the gray clouds of Gotham obscuring the moon and stars. No birds sang, no crickets sounded, all was a deathly quiet.

Then I heard him move. Beside my bed sat a haggard looking Bruce Wayne, his dark eyes scrupulously searching mine as I turned towards him.

After a few minutes of staring at each other, he spoke, "thank God."

His eyes bore sheer relief and fleeting glimpses of worry and fear. I must have been very close to death for him to react in such a manner.

"Mmm, what happened?" I slurred slightly, my voice almost too soft to hear.

An awful ghost of a memory passed across Bruce's face as his features twisted into a mask of pain. A pain that was much greater than anything physical.

"You nearly died," he whispered.

My breathing hitched and I had to turn my head away from him lest we both started crying. When I finally was calm enough to look back at Bruce, his sadness had been pushed to the back of his mind, instead a mixture of pain and anger contorted his face.

"Never disobey me like that again!" it was supposed to sound like a yell, a firm command, but it came out more like the plea of a man nearly scared to death.

I paled, for when he sounded like that, I knew not listening would bring consequences that even I didn't have the stomach to think about. "Okay," I immedietaly agreed.

The corners of his mouth twitched up into a grateful smile as he collected one of my hands in his. No more words were spoken between us for we had long ago learned that words only complicated things. Instead, we remained in a silence only understood by us.

I don't know how long we sat in silence together. All I knew was that I was drawing comfort from the breath that I was able to take, the warmth radiating from my father's hands as they grasped my own, and the idea that I was indeed alive to see the morning break.

It wasn't a grand morning, there was no sunrise to watch. There rarely was a sunrise in Gotham. The only thing that heralded the coming of morning was the chirping of the few songbirds outside my window and the lightening of the ever-present gray clouds and brown smog that forever cloaked Gotham in a depressing gloom.

But despite its appearance, I had never seen a more beautiful morning in my life.

I snuggled deeper into the pillows that Alfred had placed beneath my head sometime in the night, sleep encroaching upon the edges of my mind.

I had almost fully surrendered to my fatigue when Bruce spoke again. Pressing my hand to his lips, he whispered, "welcome home."

And I smiled in response. That's when the thought hit me.

I really had been an idiot. But not so much an idiot for disobeying Batman and getting myself captured, but more so an idiot for feeling that I had to prove to Bruce that I wasn't a little kid anymore, to prove that I didn't need him. In reality, I was still a kid, and I would always need Bruce. For even if I didn't recognize it at times, he was the only father I had.

I could rest assured in the fact that Bruce would forever be there for me, would always be my father, whether or not I asked it of him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN This was a re-write of Batman #11 which was first published in 1942 (oh yes, I read the old stuff). I took the base plot and ran with it, anything scientific was briefly researched. As you can see, this style greatly resembles the structure of a previous story, but hey, I'm all for recycling! **

**A pulmotor is a fascinating apparatus, I probably spent a good hour reading about it. First being sold and patented in 1907, pulmotors were an early precursor to a lot of the respiratory apparatuses used in modern medicine. They were mentioned several times in the earlier years of Batman and were used in Europe and the US until the late 1940's. I have no clue what happened to the Pulmotor after the 1940's. So merging a modern story format and a 100 year-old medical apparatus is sketchy at best, but this is a re-write, not a modernization.**

**On another note, I have updated End of Days and do request that you give it a look. I'm really enjoying the series and wanted to see if I could generate some more interest in it. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it. I'm just trying to generate an interest as it takes me time to come up with a feasible plot and research the needed parts. **

**But have no fear; I'm done whining now and shall likely not mention End of Days again…**

**One more thing before I end this long author's note. I am very close to getting 500 reviews on this story. Whoever is the 500th reviewer gets to request a story, which I will write. Note, I do not write slash, so no requesting that. Good luck!**


	42. Don't Touch That! Part I

Don't Touch That

By

Angelina

* * *

><p><strong>Somewhere in the Amazon Rainforest:<strong>

The rainforest was dark at this time of night, the high canopy of trees blocking out the night sky far above. Trees, vines, ferns, and many other tropical plants filled up every available inch of the rainforest floor, making traveling through it an arduos task. But nontheless, it was a task that the Young Justice team was trying to accomplish.

Robin crept stealthily through the trees and ferns, swatting at an annoying cloud of bugs swarming around his head. Sweat soaked his hair from the ninety-percent humidity that pervaded the already oppressive atmosphere. Dodging what had to be the third snake he had seen dangling from a vine, he cursed. Now he remembered why he hated the rainforest so much.

Seriously, it was cool to read about, but no fun to experience. Of course, he was traveling in parts that probably hadn't seen any humans other than the aboriginal tribes that occasioned through the area. Which meant there were no paths to follow and even more deadly surprises to watch out for.

Batman had sent them on a reconnaissance mission to discover the reason behind a recent power spike in the area. And of course Aqualad had to be visiting Atlantis, which meant that Robin was in charge of the mission. Or, to put it less politely, meant that he was in charge of babysitting a way too curious Martian, a several month-old clone trying to maim the monkeys they passed, a grumbling archer, and even worse, a speedster who couldn't keep his hands to himself.

"Cool, souvenir!" the shout of Kid Flash was swallowed whole by the dense jungle.

Robin groaned, this had to be the third time that KF had stopped to try and capture the local wildlife as a souvenir.

First had been the pet monkey for Conner, which Kid Flash had pulled out of a tree. The clone couldn't help but laugh when the speedster's joke resulted in the theft of his coveted "emergency candy bar stash" and a good fistful of his fiery red hair, which the monkey had pulled right out of the speedster's head before it leapt back into its tree with a mocking laugh.

Second had been the vampire bat that Kid Flash insisted would make a great addition to the Batcave. However, he hastily withdrew his suggestion when Robin gave him his best Bat-glare and uttered a number of colourful threats against the speedster's life, "the only way in hell that you are allowed to even suggest putting a vampire bat in the Batcave is if it is there for the sole purpose of sucking your blood!"

And now, as Kid Flash called out for the third time, Robin almost dreaded turning around to see what the speedster had discovered. He swore if it was a snake that Wally could deal with it on his own.

However, turn around he did and the sight that greeted him was one that he definitely never wanted to see. Kid Flash was slowly creeping up on a bright yellow frog, his bare hand reaching out to grab hold of it.

"KF!" yelled a startled Robin, "don't touch that!"

Kid Flash, having been absorbed by the bright colour of the frog, continued to reach for it, not heeding the warning of his friend.

Suddenly as his hand was just inches away from the gaily coloured frog, someone snatched it away. The frog, startled by the commotion, hopped off into the forest, leaving behind an angry speedster.

"Hey, not cool!" shouted an indignant Kid Flash as he turned to see Robin with a firm grasp on his wrist, "I almost had it, dude! If it hadn't been for you-

"Then you'd be dead right now," seethed Robin, cutting Kid Flash off mid-sentence.

A look of utter surprise spread across the face of the speedster, "say what now?"

"That's Phyllobates Terribilis, the golden dart frog. It secretes batrachotoxins, extremely potent cardiotoxic and neurotoxic steroidal alkaloids. That's the most potent neurotoxin known to man!" explained Robin.

The rest of the team gave him confused looks and Robin sighed.

"Say what now?" repeated an equally confused Kid Flash.

"Touch the colourful frogs and your heart ceases to function properly, eventually failing if the dosage is high enough. I figured since you were a science whiz, KF, that you would at least have some knowledge of neurotoxins."

Kid Flash gave the Boy Wonder an incredulous look, "just because I like science doesn't mean I store away information on poison. In fact, it's kinda creepy that you know so much about stuff like this."

Robin shrugged in response, "you'd be surprised what you have to know if you're going to survive in Gotham."

The young acrobat turned from the stunned group of young heroes to venture further into the jungle in search of the origins of the power spike.

* * *

><p><strong>Somewhere in the Amazon Rainforest:<strong>

A new day had dawned and the team was still stuck in the rainforest. The power spike had turned out to be nothing more than a group of cocaine manufacturers attempting to set up a laboratory in the middle of nowhere. The capture of the drug makers and the destruction of their base and cocaine had taken less than ten minutes.

Robin was so not feeling the aster after trekking through miles of jungle just for this. But now, finally, they were headed back for the bio-ship and then on to home. As soon as he got back to the Manor, he was going to sleep for two days and forget all about vampire bats, snakes, stupid poison frogs, and monkeys for a good, long while.

All they had to do was get back to the bio-ship without another incident.

But fortune was not on his side that day and he was interrupted by the high-pitched squeal of a certain Martian.

He whirled around to find Kid Flash with a rather large spider in his hand. He was holding the furry spider by only its back leg and dangling it in M'gann's face as the spider struggled furiously to get away.

"KF!" Robin yelled, slightly peeved at this point, "put that down!"

"Ah, come on Rob! It's just a little spider," the speedster pouted.

"Just a little spider! KF, do you know what that is?" Robin pointed to the spider dangling from Wally's hand. "That, my friend, is a Brazilian Wandering Spider, or better known as the banana spider."

"Yeah, so?" Kid Flash failed to see the point in the Boy Wonder's statement.

Robin sighed, "so a bite from that is excruciatingly painful. That spider can inject you with venom that causes swelling and intense pain which is quickly followed by muscle spasms, loss of muscle control, paralysis, and eventually asphyxiation. Another unusual side effect of that spider's bite is known as priapism, which is a rather painful erection that lasts for several hours and can lead to impotency. Now please put the spider down before you lose any hope of reproducing. Actually, it might be better if you don't have children to pass your complete disregard for poisonous species to!"

Kid Flash stood stock still for a moment after Robin's speech before he let forth the scream of a frightened little girl and dropped the spider.

"Die!Die!Die!Die!Die!Die!Die!" he shouted rapid-fire as he danced on the spot where it had landed, hoping to squash it. His feet moved in a blur of motion too fast for the rest of the teens to keep up with.

By the time he finally stepped away, the spider was nothing more than a pile of sticky juices pulverized into the ground of the rainforest.

Seeing that the spider had met an untimely death at his hands, or rather feet, Kid Flash shot Robin a satisfied glance.

Robin quirked an eyebrow, "you do realize that the venom is all over your shoes now?"

Taking a moment to observe the sticky fluids on the underside of his shoes, Kid Flash screamed again and took off running for the bio-ship as fast as his legs would carry him, his arms flailing above his head in his panic.

"You do realize he's going to be scared of spiders for weeks now, right?" Artemis pointed out dryly as the rest of the heroes continued after their friend.

"Yep," replied Robin.

"He's not going to sleep. Someone's going to have to check under his bed for spiders," Artemis continued.

Robin shrugged, already having deduced where the archer's mind was going with this, "you're going to buy a tarantula and stick it in his bed, aren't you?"

Artemis smiled mischievously, "you bet."

* * *

><p><strong>AN Well, I had fun learning about the most poisonous animals known to man. So I decided to throw KF and Robin into the mix and see what chaos ensued. **

**Anything scientific was copied from Wikipedia, I have no clue what half of it means. Though I do have a rudimentary understanding of alkaloids, neurotoxins, snake venom (those are so much fun to mess with, as long as you have a strong stomach and don't mind looking at the advanced stages of necrosis), and spider venom, I am by no means an expert and anything erroneous in this story was a result of beginner knowledge.**

**I think I may continue this theme with other poisonous animals and KF, it's rather amusing to write. I think I may do snakes next time…**

**Oh, and if I continue there will be Robin torture, and possibly poisoning by something fun and deadly. Oh yes, I have way too much time on my hands and an unhealthy interest in poisonous creatures 3:)**


	43. Times, They are a Changin

Times, They are a Changin

By

Angelina

**Angelina: So, this story has officially reached over 100,000 views! YAY! Thank you for your continued support, ****I do apologize for the long wait on this. I've had a really rough month. **

**Arthur: It's true! She's bloody well managed to get herself overloaded with work, sunburnt bad enough to warrant a doctor's visit, a diagnosis of Chrone's disease, and stung 21 times by hornets. I really don't know how she manages to get into so much poppycock, but I declare my influence has nothing to do with it. **

**Angelina: Sure Arthur, you keep telling yourself that...**

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><p>In the cover of the night a silent figure snuck stealthily around the corner of the Manor to an old and familiar rose trellis. A beautiful variety of tea roses climbed the trellis, the trademark flower of a certain English occupant of the Manor.<p>

With grace, the figure began to ascend the trellis, using the lattice work of wood to propel himself upwards. He was, however, careful to leave the precious flowers unharmed. Had it been daylight, he might have paused to admire the beautiful flowers and to take in their scent, but for now he was only concerned about climbing to the window above.

Reaching the partially open window, he perched upon it's sill as he inspected the window. Finding no traps or alarms, he grinned and silently pushed the window up high enough for him to slip in. Alighting silently on the wood floor below he let a relieved sigh out, either Bruce was getting lax in his security, or he was getting better at evading it.

The room that greeted the figure was well known, even in the dark, for the room had once belonged to him. It still did, for all intents and purposes. This was the room of Dick Grayson and it would forever remain so.

It was the same as the day he left it, everything in its proper place. The only difference was the layer of dust that covered everything, dust that was only disturbed by the familiar footprints of his former mentor.

Dick crept silently through the room, careful not to disturb anything for Bruce would certainly notice if something went missing. No matter how much he wanted to stop and grab the photo album that he had made of his circus family and parents, he couldn't. If Bruce ever knew he had been there, everything would be ruined.

This whole plan hinged upon even Bruce believing he was dead.

In hindsight, this wasn't the most brilliant plan that Dick have ever conceived of. But the hero was desperate, and desperation required rash actions.

It had been almost two weeks since Dick had faked his death. After all the training Bruce had given him, he more than knew how to accomplish the task and to disappear. In fact, given his skill, it would take even Sherlock Holmes months to figure out that it wasn't his body that lay buried in Gotham Cemetery. And those months would have to be enough for him to infiltrate his target and take them out, from the inside.

Dick didn't know why he had decided to go through with this plan, other than the fact that he desperately needed to get into the thick of it. All he knew was that he had to end it, for his team's sake.

Silently grasping the door knob of his large mahogany door to his bedroom, he eased it open. It was apparent that the hinges hadn't been oiled in a while, but the door still swung open with relative ease. Dick could only assume that it was the result of being opened regularly. But if he wasn't here to open the door, then who would be entering the room of the supposedly dead Dick Grayson?

Dick sighed, he knew the answer to that question, but he couldn't stomach the pain he knew he was putting Bruce through. And if his mentor was taking silent nights in his deceased surrogate son's bedroom, he was taking it harder than Dick had anticipated.

Padding down the squeaky stairs Dick avoided each of the creaking boards with ease, having long ago memorized where each and every sound would emanate from.

For what must have been the hundredth time, Dick questioned whether or not to go through with this plan. He had been there hiding in the shadows the night Batman had pulled his mangled "body" out of the harbor. He had seen the fear in his mentor's eyes when Bruce realized that the "Great Batman" was too late, again. He had watched with silent tears of his own as Bruce had cried over his first son's body.

Since then, he had avoided anything and everything to do with Bruce. He had disappeared without a trace, just like he was good at, just like his team had hated about him in their younger years.

He had, however, kept tabs on Dick Grayson via the news. Apparently Bruce had declared him missing and a great search had commenced that lasted a week before searchers had declared Dick a lost cause. Bruce Wayne publicly refused to believe that his ward of nine years was gone and claimed that he would never give up on finding him until the day he died. The public urged him to call it already and to declare Dick gone, to give himself some closure, but Bruce refused.

The actions of his surrogate father truly touched Dick and made him regret his plan. He knew the great pain he was causing Bruce in losing yet another son, and he almost didn't have the heart to continue with his charade.

But he had to; he had to for his team's sake, for Bruce's sake. He had accidently made one of the world's worst villains and now he was going to right his wrong.

Reaching the bottom of the grand staircase, Dick veered off into a largely unused hallway that led to a back entrance into Bruce's study. Everything was going well until; off in one of the numerous parlors, Dick could see the light of a single lamp, probably an oil lamp given the way it flickered now and again. Pressing himself against the wall in the shadows down the hall from the parlor, Dick observed a shadow pass by the doorway to the room.

Immediately, the young man froze and stilled his breathing, scared of discovery. The shadow paused for a second and Dick held in an anxious breath, which he only let out when the shadow continued on.

He knew that his actions weren't the best stealth wise, a hasty stopping of breath and of relieved exhaling were a good way to blow his cover, but he was off his game that night. Anyone would be really, if they had to sneak back into a place they once called home, a home in which everyone thought they were dead.

Dick waited for a second more, unsure if any action on his part would alert the occupant of the parlor. He only deemed it safe to move when the sounds of a record player could be heard echoing through the deathly silent halls. A few seconds later the first song of "the Best of Peter, Paul, and Mary," album could be heard. The folk band's melodic and slightly melancholy voices rang out as they sung of all the young men going off to war.

"Alfred," Dick breathed silently with great sadness. If Alfred had been driven to playing Peter, Paul, and Mary, he was truly grieving. He had only ever heard the man play this record when Bruce had come close to dying, when Jason had died, and when Tim had gone missing for a week at the hands of Bane. Bruce had told him once that Alfred would play it when Dick was missing or lying severely injured in the infirmary of the Batcave. Everyone knew that Alfred was the emotional support of all the bat family and he wouldn't let his true emotions out until he was alone.

Quickly and quietly, he snuck past the parlor and Alfred. Slipping into Bruce's study the sounds of Alfred's music faded slightly. Dick padded over to the bookcase on the farthest left wall.

"One, two, three, four, five," he counted down the shelves from the top of the bookcase, "Ah! Here we are," he exclaimed quietly when he found the shelf he was looking for.

He ran his finger along the spines of the books, searching for a particular one. Dick was thankful that Alfred dusted each book daily; otherwise he would have left a noticeable trail in the dust that tended to accumulate upon the spines of the leather-bound books. Finally finding the Etymology Dictionary he was looking for he smiled and pulled the book down.

Stepping back, Dick allowed the bookcase to swing open. It squeaked slightly, but he knew that Alfred wouldn't hear it over his music. Dick had timed this venture perfectly, coinciding with Bruce and Tim's patrol as Batman and Robin, and Alfred nightly tea and reading time. No one in the house would hear him.

Slipping into the secret passageway behind the bookcase, Dick quickly jogged down the passageway until he arrived at small alcove of twisted tree roots. He had discovered both the secret tunnel and the alcove many years ago when he had been wandering around the Manor after a particularly vivid nightmare. Since then, he had been hiding treasures and other things in here.

And now he was back to claim a few things, of course, where he was going he couldn't take anything personal. But he could take a few mementos which no one knew about. He also needed the files he had been stashing on his target ever since the beginning of this fiasco. Carefully, he extracted his old wrist-computer from the alcove and slipped it onto his wrist.

Exiting the passageway, he allowed the bookcase to swing back into place with a small _click. _He snuck back up the hallway he had come down, and then back up the grand stairs.

Dick slipped back into his room as silently as humanly possible. Powering up his holographic computer, he tapped into the security footage of Wayne Manor and eliminated any evidence that he had ever set foot in his childhood home. He was thankful that he had been taught to even fool the great Batman when it came to electronics.

Silently, he padded over to the still-open window. He was just about to slip through window and into the night when sudden wave of emotion came over him.

He stepped off if the window sill and gazed back into his dark room, this was possibly the last time he would ever see Wayne Manor, the last time he would ever step foot in his beloved home, the last time he would ever hear the rituals of Alfred.

Dick slid down the wall behind him until he was seated on his floor. He powered up his holographic computer again, and sorted through its files until he came to the specific one he was looking for. A file of several gigabytes pulled up on the screen with the title _memories. _Dick quickly typed in the password and hundreds of pictures began flashing before him.

There were so many pictures and memories stored in this device. So many of good times, of friends, of laughter, of love, of memories long gone. Each picture, each story held so much meaning to Dick. Meaning much more powerful than anyone could comprehend. This held an account of his life and everything he held dear.

Pictures of his circus days; of Bruce, Alfred, and Tim; pictures of his team, his friends flashed before his eyes. So many memories…

A picture of the original team flashed before his eyes and Dick stopped it on that, gazing long and hard on the smiles of years past. How he had loved that team. He had found his wings as a hero with them, he had laughed with them, he had trusted them, he had experienced loss with them, and he had helped to guide them.

Now everything on that team had changed. Megan and Conner had stopped talking to each other, the Martian developing a complete disregard for the minds of others, even going as far as to change the memories of her teammates without their permission. Wally had stopped being a super, had moved away from everything he knew, and refused to ever speak with Dick again. Roy, or rather clone-Roy, had committed suicide after discovering that the real Roy was dead. Artemis was dead. And Kaldur, he had turned from the path of Justice, he had betrayed his team and killed Artemis. And to make matters worse, tt was all Dick's fault, or at least that's what Dick told himself.

It was Dick's duty to protect Tula that fateful night, he tried and failed. And now Kaldur sought to destroy everything he held dear. It was his fault Kaldur had become evil, it was his fault that Kaldur inflicted his rage upon the world, it was all his fault.

Dick sighed forlornly and rested his head against the dusty wall behind him, what had happened? Why had something so wonderful fallen apart so quickly? Was it his curse to have everything he cared about dashed upon rock and broken?

As if in answer to his inner turmoil, the chorus of a song Alfred was playing drifted up through the vent next to Dick. The young man smiled softly as he listened, humming along to the old, familiar tune.

He glanced down one last time at the picture of the team he held so dear, tracing their faces with his finger, before he sang out the one solitary line that could answer his question, "times, they are a changin."

He let his voice drift off into a whisper as the rest of the Peter, Paul and Mary song drifted through the vent to him. Turning off his holographic computer, he bid his room one last goodbye before he alighted on the windowsill, pausing to look behind him one last time.

And then he was gone, a shadowy figure fleeing across the lawn of Wayne Manor and into the uncertain night, not sure if he would ever return to the place he had come to call home.

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><p><strong>Angelina: This is my take on the events of the last few episodes. I have a really bad habit of taking plotlines and turning them into <strong>

**my own, but it's fun. **

**Arthur: Good choice in music! **

**Angelina: For some reason, Arthur is retro today…**

**Arthur: You should turn this into an actual plot line! Come up with a story arc instead of a one shot! **

**Angelina: Hmm, I may, but you know I already have too many stories on my plate.**

**Arthur: Oh well, I am your almighty muse; you will do what I say!**

**Angelina: And you wonder why we don't get along sometimes…**


	44. Is This the End?

**This is dedicated to the victims of the Aurora Colorado shooting on today July 20, 2012. My thoughts and prayers are with you, your families, and your friends. This senseless act of violence should never have occurred. **

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><p>Is This the End?<p>

By

Angelina

The loud report of gunfire is all I can hear as I lay here. I know I should be doing something, anything. The instincts which have been drilled into me for the last five years are screaming at me to do something, but I can't. I'm frozen. My body refuses to heed the instructions of my brain and my shoulder is leaking copious amounts of blood from the bullet hole in it. I can only ask myself one question: is this the end?

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><p>My name is Dick.<p>

My life is about as complicated as complicated can get. But that statement isn't exactly true. I should have said my lives are as complicated as complicated can get. That's right, lives, as in plural. For in an all-too-real reality I live the lives of both Richard Grayson-Wayne and of Robin, the partner to the infamous Batman.

One of those lives alone is enough to keep me busy beyond belief. Two of those lives are absolute murder on any attempts to get more than three hours of sleep a night. However despite the obvious difficulties of those lives, both are rewarding to live.

As Richard Grayson-Wayne I have had a privileged life beyond what anyone's wildest dreams could ever imagine. But that's what happens when you're the ward of billionaire Bruce Wayne. As Richard I've perfected hiding my true feelings behind a mask of geniality and apathy. I've learned to make idle chat at parties, to act in everything with the utmost of social grace, to ward off pesky news-reporters, to make good grades in school, and to appear as the perfect ward of the perfect billionaire guardian. Don't get me wrong, I love being Richard, but Richard never gets to express his true emotions.

As Robin emotions are something that come after instincts and training. Survival, rules, and morals occupy the forefront of my mind. When I put the mask of Robin on, I become a protector of millions. When I put that mask on I have to leave behind myself and my own problems and emotions to help others. And I love doing that, I love being Robin. I love rescuing people, saving lives. I love ensuring that countless children do not become orphans like I did.

Both lives are as much a part of me as I am of them. But it's not these two lives that form the foundation for who I am, rather it's the third, often forgotten life I no longer lead that cements who I am and what I strive for. And that life is Dick Grayson, a scared orphan boy with a heart of gold and nerves of steel. It is in Dick that my emotions are expressed, my fears acknowledged, and my heart harboured.

As Richard Grayson-Wayne, I'm used to enduring violence. As Robin I'm used to seeing senseless acts violence, of crime, murder, and many unspeakable deeds. I'm used to preventing and enduring human nature at its worse.

But right now I'm neither Richard nor Robin. Right now I'm Dick. I'm a normal boy who went with his father to work. I'm a normal boy who can't help the fear coursing through my system as I hide beneath a desk with my father's secretary as several masked gunmen shoot up the office.

I'm only vaguely aware that even in my moment of fear I have placed myself overtop of Mary Anne, my father's secretary, to protect her from the flying bullets.

I didn't think anything like this would ever happen to me, or at least not while my mask was off. I didn't think that going to Wayne Enterprises because I wanted to surprise Bruce with a homemade lunch would end up in me hiding for my life.

So as I crouch here underneath this desk I can't help but wonder, is this the end?

Surely it must be, for if it wasn't than I wouldn't be lying wounded on the floor, shielding the Mary Anne from gunfire as several madmen shoot everyone in sight. If this isn't the end, than what is?

Through a small opening in the desk I can see the sightless eyes of Jimmy, the young aide of Lucius Fox, staring blankly at me. Jimmy was barely out of college with fresh ideas and a hunger to live life to the fullest. He was always so nice to me, he would take the time to talk to me, play cards with me when I got stuck at the office, and he would always smile at me whenever we crossed paths. But that wonderful smile of his wasn't enough to stop the bullet that took his life.

The guns are still blaring and I know that more and more people are joining Jimmy on the floor. I wish I could turn my brain off, I wish I didn't realize what was happening. But reality has too firm a grip on me to let me escape it.

I hear the shouts of the gunmen yelling to each other as they continue through the office. Somewhere behind me I vaguely hear someone sobbing from either fear or pain. But above all I hear the dreaded report of a gun. I can't get that sound out of my head; it just keeps repeating itself. It won't stop. I want it to stop so badly, but it won't.

But the sounds are starting to fade, starting to draw farther and farther away. Mary Anne is telling me that we have to move, have to get out of here while we still can. I don't know what to do, but I know I can't bear to hide here any longer while my father's co-workers are killed.

I nod in agreement to Mary Anne's pleas, too numb with shock to form a coherent thought, let alone words. Hastily I pull Mary Anne to her feet and push her in front of me to shield her from the shooter behind. Together, we dash for the exit.

We're almost there, so close. Mary Anne slips in a puddle of blood and crashes to the floor with a surprised shriek. I pause to help her up.

The world suddenly explodes into multi-colored hues. Vaguely I feel the bullet enter me, ripping through my insides. I hit the floor.

Is this the end?

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><p><strong>AN I went to see the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises early this morning. The movie was wonderful, but when I returned to my house sometime after 4am I found my family sitting up waiting for me worriedly. I was then informed that someone had gone to the same premiere in Colorado and shot countless people watching the same movie I had just come from. **

**And a thought struck me, those people in that theatre were just the same as me and my friends who had gone to see the same movie. It could just have easily happened at the theatre I was at, or the theatre my cousin was at, or the theatre anyone was at. **

**Also, please pray for my chemistry teacher's friend's daughter Petra Anderson who was among those shot today. **

**I hope I do not offend anyone with this story. I am very hesitant to put it up and will take it down if I or anyone else feels it disrespectful. I write to cope with the feeling of tragedy that I am filled with. **


	45. It's Not Over

It's Not Over

By

Angelina

It was early afternoon, the sun glaring brightly through the upper windows of Wayne Enterprises. Bruce tried to ignore it as he sat down in his overstuffed desk chair and pulled out the homemade lunch that Alfred had cooked for him and Dick delivered. He silently mused at how unusual it was for a young teenager in Gotham's society to take the time and effort to deliver lunch to his father. Although, when Bruce thought about it, with someone as unusual as Dick, societal norms never really applied.

Bruce cracked a wry smile as he laid his lunch out before him, he had the best boy a Gothamite could ask for. Hands down. Not that he was bragging or anything of the sort…

It was in the space of that single moment that Bruce's calm lunch break turned into hell.

The unmistakable sound of a shotgun shot rang out through his office followed shortly by the screams of his employees.

Shooting upright and knocking his chair over in the process, Bruce franticly gazed out the large glass wall that separated him from the rest of the corporate office space. What he saw made his stomach twist into a variety of sickening knots.

Several men dressed entirely in black with black masks held the office captive. The afternoon sun streamed in through the windows of the high-rise building to glint off of the cold guns with an almost sinister gleam.

Throughout the office space Bruce watched as the masked men opened fire on his employees. Everywhere he looked he saw secretaries, aides, accountants, guests, clients, and corporate owners alike diving for cover as a merciless hail of gunfire cut down all those in its path.

One of the gunmen turned to Bruce's office, leveled the double-barreled shotgun at his chest, and fired. For a split second Bruce's training fled and his survival instincts kicked in. His eyes squeezed shut at the sound of the shot, and the next minute he found himself on the floor, hand clasped to his racing heart as he tried to process all of the conflicting signals his body was sending him.

Bruce opened his eyes to see a cracked menagerie of glass staring back at him. He was never so thankful for bullet-proof glass in his life. He glanced through the cracked glass to see a sight that made even his hardened nerves want to be sick. And he almost lost his lunch as his stomach lurched at the bloodbath before him.

But then his training kicked in and all visages of Bruce fled, leaving the stone cold eyes and heart of Batman in its place.

Without a second thought Bruce was galvanized into action and sprang into the back room of his office where Lucius kept several weapons.

By the time he reached the back room, however, the weapons safe was already open and a set of keys belonging to Lucius Fox could be found still stuck in the lock. Bruce grabbed the tranquilizer gun that was left, loaded it with expert hands, and turned on his heel to run back into the melee. He never even paused to acknowledge the fear that he kept under lock and key so well. All he could think of was the scene he had just left, all he could think of was the people he worked with everyday bleeding and dying.

As Bruce yanked open the large door to his office he was greeted by carnage, both literally and figuratively.

Almost every inch of floor that he could see was covered in blood. Several bodies lay in the scarlet liquid, some twitching and gasping in pain, others lying forebodingly still. He could see several of his employees cloistered beneath desks, trying to hide as best they could. Still others were making a mad dash for the stairs in the momentary lull in violence as the shooters' attention was directed elsewhere. Among those running for an escape were his ever-faithful secretary Mary Anne and his son Dick.

Bruce's heart sank; Dick wasn't supposed to be here. He was supposed to have gone home half-an-hour ago! He was supposed to be at the Manor with Alfred and not here in this massacre!

So wrapped up in his horror was he that Bruce didn't realize the rapid change in events until it was too late. Mary Anne had slipped in a puddle of blood and had gone crashing to the floor with an ear-splitting shriek, Dick stopping to help her back to her feet. One of the gunmen, having heard the shriek, rounding on the two and fired his semi-automatic rifle.

Bruce shot him the next instant, but not before one of the bullets had gone careening through his son, sending the boy to the floor without a sound where he lay in a crumpled heap.

Bruce was never really sure what happened next, all he knew was that when it was over Lucius Fox was standing next to him with a shotgun and both weapons were out of ammo. All the gunmen were on the floor, either unconscious from the tranquilizer darts Bruce had shot, or wounded from the bullets of Lucius' gun.

Deadly silence fell on the office for two seconds before the most awful noise that Bruce had ever heard assaulted the billionaire's ears. A great keening arose from the survivors, the wailing and lamentations of those utterly saddened and terrified. It was the type of sound that someone would expect to hear when they knew the world was going to end. And certainly that would be true for anyone in this office because for them, the world as they had known it was forever over.

Without a second thought, the tranquilizer gun fell from Bruce's hands as he dashed over to Richard's side.

Mary Anne was still there, cradling the boy's head in her lap as she sobbed great cries that shook her entire frame. She looked up as Bruce knelt down beside her and Dick, "I-I'm s-so-sorry Mr. W-Wayne."

"No," Bruce muttered, fearing that the life of one so young and so dear had been lost. How could Dick be dead after all they went through, how could one of the protectors of Gotham perish, not in the line of duty but rather as a civilian in a senseless act of violence?

Stunned, Bruce rocked back on his heels, shock and disbelief painting a raw mask on his normally well composed features.

"He's not dead."

At first, Bruce wasn't sure anyone had spoken, mistaking the voice for a trick his mind had played on him.

"He needs medical attention; I've already called an ambulance. Keep pressure on it, I have to help others."

Bruce felt his hands being guided to the gunshot wound on his son's abdomen. Without thinking, he applied pressure, trying to hold the boy's lifeblood in with his large hands. He looked up just in time to see a balding man in a janitor's suit leaving his side.

The janitor left without another word, dashing over to the next victim to help in whatever way was possible.

Bruce was suddenly aware of everything going on in the office around him. He was suddenly aware of how many people lay wounded, of how many others had come to help. He could suddenly hear the sirens of the approaching ambulances and cops, he could see where Lucius knelt next to his dead aide, and he could taste the blood in his mouth from where he had bit his lip in premature grief.

The scene around him was forever etched into his mind. He would never forget the sight of the dead, the cries of the wounded, the rancid smell of blood that stained clothing and helpful hands. But nor would he forget the comforting voices of those who had come to help. The normal people he passed by in the halls with a curt greeting, the employees that he chatted to at parties, They had come to help, when they just as easily could have run from the carnage. They were helping save lives, letting co-workers cry on their shoulders, guiding those able to move away from the scene.

Unconsciously his hands pressed tighter into Dick's wound as he watched the scene before him. A small groan left Dick's lips and re-captured Bruce's attention.

He looked down at the boy. Dick's bangs had fallen down into his eyes and a droplet of blood stained the corner of his mouth. His eyes remained closed behind pale eyelids.

Bruce was still pressing tightly to Dick's wound when the emergency responders arrived several moments later. Quickly the billionaire was pushed to the side as the paramedics got to work, yelling out things to each other that Bruce only had a vague knowledge of.

When they had finally strapped Dick to a backboard and started on their way out to the waiting ambulance, Bruce was allowed to follow. He tried to stay as close as possible in the chaos, paying little heed to the others around him.

The press was gathered outside, each reporting on what had occurred inside the building just minutes before. However, unlike every other day, no one crowded Bruce, no one pressed microphones into his face asking questions and demanding answers. Today they respected his space.

Later he would reflect on that to be a good thing as he probably would have punched any reporter that dared to come within a mile of him.

The stay at the hospital had been excruciating. Bruce stood by Dick's side as nurses, doctors, and aides dashed around in a frenzy, voices raised as they strove to be heard above one another. Finally, several of the nurses came to wheel away Dick away for immediate surgery. He would have to wait another day before he knew that the surgery had been somewhat of a success.

Days had been spent for Bruce in the hard chairs of his son's private room, waiting for the doctor's to take Dick out of the drug-induced coma he had been placed in. And when it finally arrived, Dick was too tired to do much more than greet Bruce and Alfred before falling asleep again.

Weeks passed and Bruce was finally able to take his son home.

Months passed, Dick had resumed his nightly activities as Robin. All was normal in the Manor again.

Except for the fact that the Manor's youngest occupant no longer laughed, chattered on incessantly about something trivial, no longer cavorted about the hallways and slid down banisters. The youngest member of the Wayne household had relegated himself to his room, where he rarely emerged from if it wasn't to eat or patrol Gotham. He had stopped going to Mount Justice at all and had cut ties with all his friends there, even Wally.

Bruce was worried, often losing hours of sleep and countless meals in his concern over the mental wellbeing of his charge. He knew Dick had never been in a situation like this as Dick. Robin was used to saving people from that type of act, and Richard was used to the odd kidnapping here and there, but never before had Dick lived through such an act of terrifying violence as this.

The boy's nightmares had started up again and it wasn't long before Bruce and Alfred were awakened by Dick as he screamed out for his dead parents in fear.

It was nearing 2am one morning that Bruce stood outside the door to his son's room; listening for any sign that something was horribly wrong.

"You might as well come in," a voice sounded from the room, startling Bruce, "we both know you're going to stand there all night."

Bruce opened the door silently, allowing the light from the hall to stream into the darkened room and illuminate the sickly looking figure seated on the four poster bed. Uncertain as to what to do next, Bruce stood in the doorway for several more minutes before he finally crossed over to an overstuffed armchair sitting a few feet from the bed.

Silence pervaded the room for a while, neither occupant venturing to break it as thoughts raced through their minds. Finally, Dick sighed and covered his face with his hands, doubtlessly hiding his tear as he attempted to articulate his feelings.

"Everyone says to move on, that it's in the past, that it's over," Dick removed his hands from his eyes to reveal tear-stained cheeks and eyes alight with an absolute sense of seriousness, "it'll never be over. Not for me, not for anyone who lived through that. The world will move on and resume their normal life. They'll always feel sad about this, but in time they will forget. I can never forget, I will never forget. Jimmy's eyes as he lay there dead will forever haunt me; Mary Anne's scream as the carnage broke out will always ring in my ears. Time may lessen the fear and the pain, but it can never take it away."

For a moment, Bruce sat there unsure of what to do, unsure of how to respond. He had no clue how to reply to the morosely wise words of a thirteen year-old _child_ who had lived through something no person should ever have to encounter. What was he to say? Should he lie, tell the boy time would make it better? Should he utter empty promises that everything would be alright?

Though the thoughts in Bruce's head raced and fought for control of his body, his heart compelled him to act. He stood up and, in three long strides, had come to kneel before the distraught boy and envelope him in deep embrace.

It wasn't the cliché hug, the one where he held on until Dick had cried everything out, nor was it the reassuring squeeze he so often gave. Rather this hug was brief, but meaningful, lasting only long enough to convey the feelings and emotions that spoke so much louder and clearer than words ever could.

"I know, Dick." Bruce needn't say anymore.

Dick sniffled once, twice before rubbing the back of sleeve against his running nose and blinking the tears out of his eyes. "Yeah," his small voice muttered.

The horror of that day, the physical scars would always be with him, would always haunt him. But they also would drive the fire inside him to prevent such things from ever happening again.

"Hot chocolate?"

The voice startled both Bruce and Dick and the two looked up to see Alfred standing in the doorway with a tray in his hands, two steaming mugs atop of it.

Dick nodded and Alfred handed him his mug with a small smile, "One day, sir, you will heal."

And Dick didn't doubt him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN Sequel to the last chapter. **

**To everyone who prayed for Petra, thank you so much. My teacher informed me a while back that she has survived against all odds. It turns out that she was riddled with buck shot from a shotgun. One of the pellets entered her head through her nose and traveled to the back of her skull. But despite this, she survived with personality and what appears to be most movement intact. Apparently she had a birth defect that caused a small void to form in her brain. The pellet traveled through this void and left the brain matter just millimeters on either side untouched. **

**I don't know how much more of a miracle one could ask for. Thank you so much for all the prayers! My teacher also wants to thank everyone who has been praying!**

**Also, I am now at college! It's so exciting and I have to work so hard in my classes. I will try to continue writing this and other stories, but I do not know how often I can update. School does come first, after all. **

**I hope I do not offend anyone with this story. I am very hesitant to put it up and will take it down if I or anyone else feels it disrespectful. I write to cope with the feeling of tragedy that I am filled with. **


	46. Butterfly Fly Away

Butterfly Fly Away

By

Angelina

The first time Robin was seriously injured on Young Justice, Batman had been out of the country. Too far away to stop the bullet that had struck his son, too far away to rush in and save the day, and too far away to make sure his son was alright. He was too far away to do anything but pray as he rushed back to Mount Justice to find out whether or not Robin had survived. `

He arrived at the Hospital just after his son's surgery had been completed. As silent as the night to whom he was so often equated, Batman entered Robin's designated room to find a sight unfamiliar to him. The Young Justice team was already there, crowded around Robin's bed as they waited for their youngest to return to the waking world. Each had a differing level of worry playing across their features as they continued their silent vigil.

Batman stayed back in the shadows, fearing to interrupt such an intimate display of emotion. Ah emotion, he had never been good with those, choosing to block them out of his life in order to deal with the atrocities Gotham threw at him every day. No, he did not deem it prudent to step into a situation so out of his comfort zone, to disturb a scene of affection that he would never fully understand.

Instead, he stayed just long enough to make sure that Robin awoke and would be okay. And then he left, as silently as he had entered, not noticed by the joyful teen heroes and his discombobulated son.

Several days later Robin was finally discharged from the Hospital and Batman was allowed to take him home. The following weeks of recovery were slow. Dick's activity level was slowly coming back, but it was dubious as to when he would finally be fit enough to retake his place at Batman's side.

Bruce would often observe Dick getting up in the wee hours of the morning to try and workout, only to return to bed defeated half an hour later. It was one such morning that Bruce sat unnoticed in the shadows of the Batcave, watching his protégé attempt to work with the high bar.

Dick looked up at the horizontal bar a little under four feet above his head. He had been attempting a simple handstand and front flip dismount, a skill he had learned at three. But every time he managed to get a good grip on the bar, the lower right quadrant of his abdomen, where he had been shot would protest and Dick would drop painfully back to the floor.

This had been going on for nearly an hour, when Dick finally managed the handstand, however his weak stomach muscles protested and with a cry, Dick lost his grip and fell to the floor. However, he didn't get up as was expected of him; he boy was content lying on the floor in a heap, his chest heaving from pain and exertion.

Startled, Bruce began to rise from his seat. He needed to check on Dick, make sure he was alright.

Alfred place a restraining hand on Bruce's shoulder, "leave him be, sir. I'm afraid there are some things Master Richard must accomplish on his own, this is one. Much like when a butterfly is ready to leave its cocoon, it must do so without aid. For if it was helped, than it would be too weak to survive.

Bruce nodded, as much as it pained him to do so, the man remained in the shadows, watching, ever watching.

Dick slowly attempted to stand again, this time succeeding in making it all the way to his feet. He glared up at the bar in defiance, he would win this challenge.

Bending at his knees, Dick hopped forcefully onto the waiting springboard before reaching out and grasping the bar with both hands. He hung there, suspended in the air, for several seconds before he took and deep breathe and began the painful procedure of dragging his body up into a handstand. Finally, the handstand had been reached and Dick remained there for a second, his arms quavering with the effort, as he thought of his next move. On his exhale, Dick allowed his body to fall backwards, using his momentum and strength to swing himself around the bar twice before he let go. Keeping his body in a taut line, he flipped over once before landing on his feet on the waiting mat below.

With a triumphant sigh, Dick collapsed back onto the mat, he had succeeded. He had conquered weakness, he would be alright.

Only then did Bruce emerge from the shadows, a genuine smile gracing his features as he offered a helping hand to his son. Richard returned his smile as he accepted his father's hand and allowed the older man to pull him into a strong embrace.

Alfred watched from the shadows with a proud expression on his face, the object he had been dusting lying forgotten beside him.

And as Bruce walked away with a fatherly hand placed about his boy's shoulder, a thought struck him that he had never thought of before. Maybe, in his own special way, he did know of affection. Maybe he could allow emotion to enter his carefully regulated world. Maybe he already had.

Certainly he loved the boy; he would never hesitate to admit that. And he realized that the great Batman, Dark Knight, protector of Gotham, actually cared deeply for someone. He loved someone as much as himself, he was willing to put them above his personal crusade.

Dick Grayson was the boy who changed his heart of steel.

**Angelina: Life is definitely taking a more serious turn for me as I now realize that I am an adult. **

**I turned 18 six months ago, I finally got my Driver's License, I started dating, I graduated Highschool, and I started attending college three states away from my home. But it's really none of these things that make me feel as if I've passed my right of passage into the sacred realm of adulthood. Rather it's the gift that my father presented me at our parting when they left me and Charlie at college. **

**My father gave me my grandmother's Claddagh ring (the Claddagh ring is a famous ring of Irish tradition) that has been in our family for over 100 years. **

**Now, to most it's a tarnished ring that has seen a century's worth of wear and hard work. But to me it's more valuable than the crown jewels. **

**The tradition in our family for the past 75 years has been to pass this ring down to the eldest daughter upon her passage into adulthood (in the absence of any daughters in the family, it is to be given to the eldest son who will pass it to his eldest daughter). I am to wear this ring until the day my eldest daughter reaches adulthood. **

**It's a great honour to be given this ring, after all, it holds over a century of my family's stories and traditions. And now that it has graced my finger, I shan't take it off until the day I must give it away. I feel honoured to bear something of such significance to my family and to carry on our old Irish tradition. Sláinte!**

**Arthur: Since my numpty writer neglected to mention this: yes, we are alive. College life is hectic, but Angelina is managing to hold an A average in all but one class. **

**Angelina: Right, yes I am alive. I can't write much fanfiction, unfortunately, the workload here is way above average and it takes me almost all day to finish homework, plus I have to work 15 hours a week to help pay tuition. So, prayers for a smooth college life would be appreciated. **


	47. Don't Touch That! Part 2

Don't Touch That! Part 2

By

Angelina

* * *

><p>What was I thinking? I'll tell you what: I wasn't thinking. If I had been thinking then I wouldn't be lying here with an arm swollen three times its normal size and hurting so bad that I wished it belonged to someone else, preferably the Joker.<p>

It all happened when Black Canary dropped a surveillance mission in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains on us. Seriously, sending Young Justice after such a low level perp was not supposed to end with me being injured yet again.

I tell you, my bad luck just never runs out. And Wally is an idiot, yeah that about explains it…

But I should probably back up a bit; I'm starting in the middle of the story, again. This all started two days ago when Black Canary dropped a most unwelcome piece of news on our team.

* * *

><p>I had just got off of school for the week and Batman had finally relented to my request to spend the weekend with my friends on Young Justice. I couldn't believe my luck as I stepped out of the zeta tubes to crowded common room of Mount Justice. Wally and Conner were gathered around the television in a vicious video game competition. Kaldur sat in one of the lounge chairs, knitting a sweater I was sure Mrs. Weasley would have been proud of. Where and why he ever learned to knit I didn't particularly want to know. Megan and Artemis were perched on the back of the couch behind where Wally and Conner sat, heads buried in some magazine for girls. They were both giggling intermittently as they stuffed their faces with the popcorn Wally had abandoned in favor of devoting his full attention to his game. He would be so mad when he discovered the girls had eaten all of his popcorn.<p>

As I watched them, I had to contain the desire to smile foolishly at their antics. I certainly had been blessed with friends like this. With a small chuckle, I walked over to join them, taking a seat opposite of Kaldur in another of the lounge chairs. My team hadn't noticed my entrance yet, and I was content to watch them for a little while longer before alerting them to my presence. I mean really, I wasn't that quiet, was I?

However, before I could make my presence known, Black Canary strode into the room, her heels clicking against the stone floors loudly. Her sudden appearance must have startled Wally because he jumped nearly three feet into the air, arms flailing. One of his fists knocked over the popcorn bowl balanced on the back of the couch. I tried not to laugh as Wally set off a chain reaction. As the popcorn bowl clattered to the floor, Megan fell off the couch with a squeal having tried to save the popcorn and compromising her balance on the back of the couch. Artemis, startled by Megan's squeal, accidently let go of the magazine in her hand which flew across the room to land on Kaldur's head. Kaldur, surprised by the magazine's sudden assault on his face, fumbled to fling the offending thing away, unraveling two rows of stiches on his sweater in the process and inadvertently flinging a knitting needle with the magazine. The magazine landed at Black Canary's feet, open to the page on having better sex and the knitting needle flew through the air to lodge itself in Connor's game control, stopping him from winning his first video game ever.

There was deathly silence for a moment before everything broke out in chaos. Connor started yelling at Kaldur who tried his best to apologize to the clone while muttering scathing remarks about certain females' magazines. Wally's voice could be heard above everyone's as he railed at Megan and Artemis for stealing his popcorn. Artemis thoroughly displeased with the whole situation, yelled back about him always acting before he thought. Megan looked as if she wanted to try and stop the fighting, but the glare Black Canary was giving the Martian while she berated her for the possession of inappropriate magazines stopped any diplomatic endeavors the young girl might have had.

Not able to contain my laughter any longer, I let forth a few cackles which quickly turned into a fit of laughter that had my eyes watering. At first my teammates were startled at my sudden appearance, but soon they were laughing along with me as the tension in the room dissipated. Finally, I managed to get my laughter under control, wipe my eyes, and turned to acknowledge Black Canary, who had been trying to get out attention for at least five minutes.

"Finally," she remarked, "you lot are worse than toddlers."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I act five at the least and am proud of it," Wally retorted.

Artemis arched a quizzical eyebrow at Wally's statement, "Isn't five a bit optimistic for you?"

Wally looked ready to retort with a scathing remark when the angry shout of Black Canary killed his protest before it could leave his lips, "Enough!"

Her shout reverberated through the mountain, knocking Wally and Artemis off their feet and nearly unseating Kaldur. My team quickly turned their attention to her.

"Much better," she commented as one of her gloved hands massaged her temple. "Now, I have a mission for you."

"Really!?" Megan practically squealed.

Kaldur, however, looked bothered by something, "does not Batman usually explain our assignments?"

Black Canary sent him a scathing glare that had the dark skinned boy blushing an even darker shade, "yes, he does. But today you got me, so get used to it. Got it?"

I watched my team nod their heads vigorously before I inclined my head in assent; she didn't scare me nearly as much as Batman.

"Good," she looked relieved at our cooperation, "the League has decided to send you to monitor a cabin in Appalachian Mountains of Virginia where we suspect an associate of the Light to be hiding out."

"Wait, you're sending us into the mountains to look for some guy who _might_ be in a remote cabin and who _might_ be connected to the Light?" asked Wally.

Black Canary growled and Wally shut up with a small squeak. "Yes, now stop complaining. I can't tell you how many mundane missions I've been on. Despite popular belief, you don't get to save the world every mission. You have to do a lot of the boring things first. Now, the gear you will need is already in M'gann's bio-ship. Check in is at six in the morning, noon, six in the evening, and midnight. If you haven't found anything out by Sunday evening you are to come back, I will not have you skipping school."

There were collective groans from my teammates at this demand. Black Canary waited for the complaining to subside before continuing, "You move out in fifteen minutes, pack something warm, I hear it gets cold in the mountains."

* * *

><p>Black Canary was right; it did get cold in the mountains. Not that I was complaining about the cold, I don't mind it. What I was complaining about, however, was the unfortunate reality of another long surveillance mission.<p>

"I can't believe they sent us on another camping trip!" grouched Wally as he shifted through the supplies of food Black Canary had left.

Conner frowned at the mention of camping. I interjected before Wally had the chance to work himself into a truly foul mood that would result in him complaining non-stop for the rest of the mission, "It's not so much camping as it is a surveillance mission. We won't be using tents, lighting fires, or doing any other camping related activities. We will be keeping a tight perimeter around the suspected cabin and surrounding areas and will be taking shifts for surveillance. Whoever isn't on a shift can sleep in the bio-ship. See KF, it isn't quite camping."

Wally scowled in disbelief at his best friend, "Sure, it's not camping. It's just a remote cabin in the middle of the woods on a mountain ten miles from the nearest sign of civilization. So we will have to put up with all that nature has to offer for the next two days, kind of like when we go camping."

"Peace my friends, we have been given a mission that we must accomplish," Kaldur soothed, ever eager to avoid arguments and sarcasm between his teammates. "At least we are not required to sleep in tents."

"You can say that again," Conner interjected happily.

"At least we are not required to sleep in tents," the Altantian repeated himself. There was silence in the bio-ship for a second before we all started laughing. I didn't quite know if it was Aqualad's intention to be funny, but he was nonetheless.

After our laughter subsided we finished the last of the preparations for our mission. I outlined our perimeter and set a surveillance schedule that had four people on the ground and two in the bio-ship at all times. We agreed to take turns with the nights shifts. Our course of action was set and I quickly went about my own job, hunkering down in a tree to watch the cabin our perp was supposedly hiding out in.

* * *

><p>As stakeouts and surveillance missions go, this one was rather quiet. I stood watch from the branches of a 100 foot tall pine tree. There really wasn't a whole lot going on, the perp mainly did normal things. I watched him burn his venison burger (such a shame to burn good meat), read a magazine on duck hunting, and watch a baseball game on a really old television set. The cabin contained very little technology and the perp, whose name I learned was Peter, seemed to live a lonely woodsman's life.<p>

At 3am on Sunday morning Artemis switched places with me and I headed for my four hours rest on board the bio-ship. As I climbed aboard I saw Conner sitting at the helm, scanning through the data the ship provided on the surrounding areas. He looked up from the screens to wave briefly at me. I waved back, silently grateful that Conner was becoming more and more comfortable with Young Justice as a team and as friends. Before he could turn his attention back to the screens he was monitoring I spoke up, "Wake me up if he does anything incriminating or if he gets on a computer."

Conner nodded and turned back to his monitors. I smiled and stretched out on the cot M'gann had fashioned for our team. The blanket was soft and the pillow inviting as I curled up for a good night's rest. A content yawn escaped me as I emptied my mind and let myself drift into a light slumber, all vestiges of the world melting away as sleep overtook me.

I was brought abruptly back to reality by Superboy roughly shaking my shoulders and loudly calling my name. My internal clock told me I had been asleep for an hour, a quick glance at my holographic computer told me I had only been asleep 53 minutes. Groaning I sat up, "What?"

"Megan just saw our suspect log onto his laptop," answered Conner.

"Great," I was fully awake now and quickly typing away at my computer. Because the perp's laptop was the only other computer besides my team's in a ten-mile radius, and since I was running a program to filter out the team's electronics, it only took me a moment to isolate his device and hack into it.

"Has this guy ever heard of a firewall?" I asked no one in particular as I began to filter through his information. "Not that I'm complaining…"

Conner shrugged. I had the distinct feeling that he was watching my screen through my back with his newly acquired x-ray vision. I spent five minutes shifting through the perp's messy hard drive before I found what I was looking for. Another minute allowed me to bypass his security and dive through the back door of his bank account.

With a smirk I downloaded the information I needed. "Kaldur, I have enough information to connect our suspect to an underling of Lex Luthor."

"Very well, do you require more information?" Kaldur's voice spoke gently in my ear. I could tell he was tired.

"Yeah it would be great if we could get out of here, I'm hungry." I smiled as Wally began his customary complaining.

Artemis huffed through her communicator, "When are you not hungry Baywatch?"

"When I'm eating," Wally sounded quite proud of his answer. I couldn't help but laugh at my best friend's response.

"I have enough to prove he's involved, or at the very least associated, with people connected to the Light." Downloading the last bit of information I needed, I shut down my holographic computer and recalled everyone to the bio-ship. Gratefully my teammates retired to the bio-ship.

"What information have you acquired?" Kaldur asked as soon as the doors to the bio-ship were closed and we began the trip back to Happy Harbor.

"I found a sizable payment from an underling of Lex Luthor's in our perp's bank account and an e-mail trail that connects him to a recent robbery in one of Wayne Enterprise's research labs. It looks like he only drove the get-away car, but he might know who else was involved," I explained as I showed the information to my teammates.

"Good. I shall contact Black Canary." I nodded appreciatively as Kaldur outlined our next course of action.

While I waited for Kaldur to finish talking with our den mother, I looked around at my friends and fellow teammates. Every one of them was asleep with the exception of me and Aqualad. Artemis, Connor, and M'gann were asleep on their chairs. Wally, on the other hand, had apparently been too tired to make it to his chair and was curled up in a ball on the floor, snoring loudly. I smirked at the antics and inability of my teammates to stay up for long periods of time; they wouldn't last a night with Batman.

"The League has been informed," Kaldur's voice cut through my musings. "Black Canary is sending one of the League members to apprehend our suspect,"

"Good." I was content to let the League handle our suspect. Sunday was just underway and we were done with our mission. Once debriefing was over, I had the rest of the day to goof off. Silently I took me seat and let myself drift off to sleep. 15 minutes later I was disturbed by the shout of Kid Flash.

"I have to pee!" Wally announced to everyone present.

"Geez, Kid Idiot, we really didn't need to know that," Artemis grouched as she groggily glared at the speedster. Wally was dancing up and down on the spot trying to hold back his bodily needs.

"There's a clearing coming up, Wally. I can land and you can use the woods," M'gann offered cheerily.

"Thanks, beautiful." Wally shamelessly flirted.

M'gann landed and Wally was off of the ship before it fully touched down. Ten minutes passed and Wally had yet to return. Just as I was about go looking for him, my communicator chirped on.

"Rob, you have to come see this! I found a corn snake!" I sighed, Wally got overly excited sometimes about the weirdest things. I guess it comes with the whole hyperactivity thing.

Artemis groaned, "If he doesn't get back on this ship in ten minutes, I'm dragging him back here by his ear."

"Don't worry, Arty, I'll have him back in no time. Plus, if I don't go and look, he'll complain about it for the rest of the week," I assured her.

Artemis shrugged and M'gann promised to wait. Leaving the bio-ship, I followed where Wally's tracks led. A moment later I found him standing off to one side of the clearing, pointing to a wriggling mass that I could just make out to be a snake. Smiling, I sped up to see the snake. So what if I think snakes are asterous.

Just as I got close enough to see the snake clearly, Wally decided to have another profoundly idiotic moment. With no regard for his safety, Kid Idiot picked up the snake.

It was then that I noticed exactly what type of snake Wally had found. Rushing forward I attempted to knock the snake out of Wally's hand before it could bite him, "Don't touch that! It's a copperhead!"

Wally, for once in his life, listened to me immediately. He dropped the snake in horror, right onto my bare arm. I really have no clue how the snake managed to bite me as it fell. I guess that's just my luck.

At first the bite felt like a painful pinch. And then the blood came, seeping out of my arm as the anti-coagulants in the snake's venom got to work. I quickly sifted through my knowledge of copperhead bites, hoping to find something that would help my current situation. From what I could recall copperhead bites caused bleeding, significant swelling, discoloration of skin around the bite, low blood pressure, elevated pulse, nausea, and severe pain. Well that sounded like fun.

"Robin! You're seriously starting to freak me out! Are you ok?" Wally's voice filtered through the haze that had settled on my mind. He must have asked me that question several times already because he was looking more than a little bit concerned. Right, copperhead bites could also cause disorientation and giddiness.

"No, KF, I just got bit by a snake. I'm not okay!" I answered through clenched teeth. Yep there was the severe pain.

"I am so sorry, Rob. I didn't know it was a copperhead," Wally was apologizing in super speed babble as he propelled me swiftly forward.

"Wally stop!" M'gann's voice caused Wally to halt abruptly and nearly sent me sprawling. The Martian was standing in the middle of the clearing, having come to investigate the commotion we were doubtlessly causing. "You're not supposed to let him move around if he's been bitten."

Before Wally or I could react, M'gann began to levitate me back to the bio-ship. When we reached the ship, everyone was in an uproar. Vaguely I could hear Kaldur demanding to know what happened, Artemis yelling out Wally for his stupidity, and Conner trying to offer suggestions on what to do. M'gann gently placed me in my seat before joining in the chorus of voices trying to figure out what had happened and what to do.

To add to the excruciating pain of my pain in my arm, a sharp ache began to pound behind my temples. The cacophony of voices around me rose to a crescendo as the situation rapidly deteriorated into a massive argument between my teammates.

"Silence!" I yelled as I jumped to me feet. A second later I had fallen back into my seat as dizziness overtook my brain. So that wasn't my best idea. At least my teammates had stopped arguing.

Suddenly everyone was crowded into my vision. "We need to get you back to the mountain, there should be an antivenin there," Conner explained as M'gann took off at a reckless speed.

"No, antivenin won't work," Wally quickly responded.

"And how do you know that, Baywatch?" Artemis responded, anger and concern clouding her voice. Wally and Artemis fell into a rapid-fire argument which I couldn't keep up with.

My headache was back with a vengeance and the pain in my arm was climbing. I cradled my injured arm to myself, letting out a small grunt of pain. Closing my eyes, I rested my head against the seat, wishing that everything would just go away. Something cold touched my arm and my eyes jerked open. Kaldur was holding an ice-pack to where the snake had bitten me.

"NO!" jerking my arm back, I managed to throw the offending ice-pack to the floor.

"Robin, we are only trying to help you." Kaldur tried to re-apply the ice-pack but again I jerked back hissing in pain as I jostled my arm.

"An ice-pack will cause the venom to pool in my muscles and blood vessels and will cause irreparable damage," I explained through gritted teeth.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Conner. It was clear that my team was at a loss for what to do and was scared.

I mentally facepalmed, how could I be the only one who knew first-aid for snake bites? "Wash my arm with anti-bacterial soap and keep it immobilized below my heart. Don't use ice-packs or tourniquets and do not try to suck out the venom."

Wally nodded, sense finally winning out as he explained the situation to my team "It's a copperhead bite. Those things hurt like hell, but aren't fatal. Right now we need to get him back to the mountain so any permanent damage can be stopped. He can't have antivenin because he is sensitive to it and it would probably cause more harm than good. The most we can do is dull the pain and wait for it to take its course."

I snorted in distaste and closed my eyes. Someone, probably Wally, was gently handling my arm as they removed my constricting glove and set about washing it lightly. I let my surroundings melt into the background as I entered the meditation state that Batman had taught me years ago to help deal with pain.

* * *

><p>Reality didn't catch up with me again until we landed at Mount Justice and I was jostled onto a stretcher. I opened my eyes at the familiar sound of Dr. Leslie's voice.<p>

"It's always you, isn't it? Do you remember what happened?" she asked as she and Red Tornado wheeled me to the med-bay.

I nodded, "Wally was stupid."

Despite the situation and my obvious discomfort, Leslie smiled. "Yes, I've gathered that. Could you be more specific?"

"He dropped a copperhead on me and it decided to bite."

By now we had arrived at the med-bay. Leslie and Red Tornado quickly transferred me to a bed and began stripping off my uniform. "How did you treat the bite?" Leslie asked.

"It was washed and immobilized," I replied.

"Good." Leslie quickly began checking my vital signs. I grimaced when she gently prodded my arm.

"On a scale from one to ten, how much does it hurt?" she asked as she swung her stethoscope back around her neck.

"23," I replied.

"You always have to exaggerate." Leslie loomed over me with an IV needle, "You'll feel a prick, but you should be used to that by now."

I nodded as Leslie pressed the needle into the vein in the crook of my elbow and taped it down firmly. The familiar feeling of drugs coursing up my arm set me at ease and I leaned back into my pillows desperately hoping for some relief to the pain. My very swollen arm was placed on a pillow and a nasal cannula slipped over my head. I let myself block out the world again as Leslie began to gently wash my arm.

And that's how I got here, lying in a med-bay bed waiting for the stupid antibiotics and painkillers to start working. If I had been thinking, none of this would have happened. Really, I should have just yelled at Wally to drop the snake, he was wearing padded gloves and a body suit; it was highly unlikely that any bite would have gone through his suit. But no, I had to play the hero and knock the snake out of his grasp. I had to land myself in a situation that resulted in an arm swollen three times its normal size and excruciatingly painful. Some story, huh? My luck really is rotten.

By the time Leslie was done, the painkillers had started to take the edge of the pain and my mind was shrouded with the familiar fog of painkillers. Sighing, I let myself drift off to a world blissfully ignorant of pain.

* * *

><p>Sometime later I awoke to lowered voices. "I've put him on painkillers and antibiotics. Beyond that, there's not much I can do. The antivenin poses more harm than good. However, the swelling has started to go down and his vitals have stabilized."<p>

"Good. How long until he can resume active duty?" the voice of my mentor filtered through my haze and I tried to pay more attention to the conversation.

"I should be able to release him as soon as the swelling goes down more, maybe a day or two. I'll give him an examination then to assess how much damage has been done to his muscles and determine how long he should spend in recovery. It could be anywhere from a week to several months."

"Months?" the unmistakable growl in Batman's voice indicated his displeasure.

"Be careful with this Bruce. Copperhead bites may not be fatal for healthy teenagers and adults, but they can cause a lot of muscle damage. Doing too much too soon will be detrimental to his recovery," Leslie's voice had taken the edge I had come to associate with her protective side.

Batman grunted an assent, "he'll be taken care of."

I heard Leslie sigh heavily, "I know Bruce. He always is. Just don't push it and he should be fine." The click of heels against stone announced her departure.

The sound of rustling fabric was the only indication that Batman had crossed the room and was now seated at my bedside. "I know you're awake, you can stop pretending now," the rough voice of my mentor softened into the voice of my father.

"I wasn't pretending, just don't want to open my eyes," I responded wearily.

"Are you in pain?" he asked in a cool tone which belied his obvious concern.

I opened my eyes and looked up at him, "Yeah, but not nearly as much as before."

He narrowed his eyes for a second before sighing, convinced that I was being honest with him. Silence fell on the med-bay and I looked away from Batman to take in my surroundings. As usual, the med-bay was empty and its white beds with pale blue blankets pervaded an atmosphere of sterile stillness. A get well soon card adorned my bedside table along with a glass of water. The card bore happy flowers and bright colours, obviously from M'gann. However, beside the card lay a plate of brownies and a single robin's egg. I smiled slightly at the token. Long ago Wally had come up with his way of apologizing to me. When words became hard for the speedster, he would make me goodies and leave some allusion to my alter-ego. This little token often meant much more to me than any verbal apology Wally could give.

Batman's eyes, following my gaze, settled on the plate of brownies and the robin's egg. His eyes narrowed as his quick mind worked out exactly who the token was from.

"Don't be too hard on him," I implored. "He didn't mean to."

Batman sighed, "Wallace never means to, but he acts irresponsibly nonetheless. One day his antics will cause serious harm."

"Wally is a good friend and teammate. He may sometimes act before he thinks, but this time I'm more to blame than he is. I tried to knock the snake out of his hand," my eyes locked with my mentor's as I explained what happened.

After a moment Batman looked away and nodded. "Go back to sleep, I'll be back later to take you home."

I rested my head on my pillows and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, Batman was standing at the door to the med-bay. His expression was guarded, but after working with him for many years I understood the look on his face to be one of relief that I was safe and out of danger. I smiled at him; it was always nice to know he cared in his own special way. Without another word, Batman turned to leave.

"Don't be too hard on Wally," I called after him.

Batman waved over his shoulder as he left. I would still have a best friend after he was done with Wally. I may not have him all in one piece, but Wally would definitely still be alive after Batman got through with him. Not that that was much conciliation to Wally. With that thought, I again allowed myself to fall back asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Angelina: I'mmmmm Baaacccckkk!<strong>

**Arthur: It's about bloody time. **

**Angelina: Yes, yes I know. It's been over six months and I do apologize for my absence. However, school and work must unfortunately come first. My freshman year of college is over and now that I'm back home and back to my normal job and schedule I should have a lot more time to write. I have taken the last few days to re-watch season 1 of Young Justice, but I have yet to make it all the way through season 2 so no spoilers please. **

**Arthur: As such Angelina will mainly be writing within the context of the first season. **

**Angelina: Yes, thank you Arthur. So much has happened over the past two terms and I've unfortunately fallen behind on quite a bit, especially when it comes to my recreational reading, writing, and television habits. **

**Arthur: Habits? That's putting it lightly. You're very much obsessed with books, writing, and telly! I can hardly drag you away from those things.**

**Angelina: Time to switch gears on this conversation since Arthur is being a royal nuisance. Giving that I tend to miss a lot of errors, and would love to try and up the level of my writing: I am looking for a beta reader. **

**Arthur: You're bloody replacing me! This is sodding mutiny, mutiny I tell you!**

**Angelina: Arthur, I can't replace you, you're stuck in my head! I'm just in need of someone to read over my stories, catch my mistakes, and give me some suggestions about how to improve. So if anyone is interested, please contact me. I'm trying to find someone who will be a good fit with my style. Thanks everyone J**

**Arthur: I still can't believe she is replacing me, after all we've been through! I'm going to go cry in my corner now…**

**Angelina: Ignore Arthur. Anyway, apologies for the absurdly long chapter, I hope you enjoy it. Until next time!**


	48. Trust

Trust

By

Angelina

"I'm the damn Batman! A broken leg won't stand in my way," a ferocious Batman growled from where he was propped up against the wall of a collapsed cave.

"It will stand in your way of standing," Robin pointed out, never wasting an opportunity for wordplay. "Seriously Batman, that's a compound fracture, don't push it or you'll make it worse."

Batman glanced down at the blood stained bone that was pushing out of his leg and uniform. The wound had been cleaned as best as their precarious situation would allow. He ground his teeth against the pain and realization that his partner was right, stupid teenagers. With a groan, Batman let his masked head fall back onto the stone of the cave wall behind him.

In his own corner of the collapsed cave Robin tried to get a signal. They could really use Alfred's help right now. Nothing came through and Robin was sure that his panic button was useless as well. After several minutes he gave up, cursing their luck.

"The cave walls are too thick," Batman commented from his corner, masking the pain in his voice.

"I know that," Robin bristled. "It never hurts to try though." After a few more minutes Robin gave up and sank down into a sitting position, his back against the wall.

Silence pervaded the atmosphere of the cave. Robin could hear Batman's breath hitching from across the fifteen foot space. For once he thanked his lucky stars that there remained a small shaft to give them air. All attempts to get out of their prison had failed. Now they just had to hope for a rescue before the drug runners they were chasing came back with more men. Although Robin figured they were halfway to Mexico by now and not likely to return, if they had even escaped the cave-in that is.

He hated drug busts; there were always so many things that could go wrong with them. Today's bust had just happened to take the dynamic duo to the underground cave system of Gotham where they found a drug lab capable of producing several pounds of "recreational" drugs. The ensuing fight had brought the ceiling down on them, literally.

Robin twiddled with a batarang, watching Batman out of the corner of his eye. He could see that his mentor was in a good deal of pain and attempting to hide it. Robin knew that Bruce needed to have control over the situation to feel calm, but this was ridiculous. His mentor should have trusted him enough to show pain in his presence; after all they had been working together for over seven years.

"Look, I can see that you're in pain. I don't know why you always have to hide it. It's not like you need to defend your manliness with me," sighed Robin.

Batman glared at him.

Robin crouched next to him, ignoring his glare. He fished through his utility belt for a little while before finding the small syringe he was looking for, "I have some morphine. Take it."

Batman shook his head minutely, "I need to keep a clear mind."

Robing sighed, allowing his head to hang for a few seconds before it snapped up in anger. "Damn it. I get that you're the Batman, but that doesn't mean you are above accepting help! You are injured and in danger of sustaining nerve damage. You're in pain. So swallow your damn pride and take the morphine!"

Both heroes glared at each other for several minutes, neither willing to give in. Realizing that his partner was right, Batman was the first to bow. The look of surprise on Robin's face was almost comical.

Batman took the syringe from Robin's hand and jabbed the needle into his leg, slowly depressing the plunger. He may be giving in, but that did not mean he was going to let himself be mollycoddled by his protégé, he got enough of that from Alfred as it was.

Smiling slightly at Batman, Robin watched as the morphine began to take effect. A barely audible sigh of relief emanated from Batman before his stone-cold visage was once again in place.

"Ahem."

The noise startled both occupants of the cave and Robin whipped around to see Superboy, Aqualad, and Kid Flash standing behind him in the newly made cave opening. "How long have you guys been standing there?"

Kid Flash shrugged, "Long enough." Batman turned his glare onto the speedster, still fearsome despite the haze of drugs. Kid Flash quickly hid behind an un-amused Superboy.

Robin smiled slightly at his best friend's antics, but his smile fell as the seriousness of the situation leaked back in. The young hero quickly turned to Aqualad, "We were caught in a drug bust gone bad; baddies are in the wind. Batman sustained a compound fracture in the ensuing collapse. I've cleaned it as best as I can to try and stop infection, but he still needs immediate medical attention."

The leader looked at the young hero appraisingly before turning to instruct Superboy to get a stretcher. His request died on his lips, however, when he saw that Superboy had already fetched a stretcher while Robin had been talking. Aqualad nodded gratefully and helped the clone to get a stoic Batman onto it.

"M'gann's bioship is waiting outside. I shall take you both to the Watchtower for medical assistance," the leader told Robin as he and Superboy bore Batman's stretcher to the bioship.

Robin glared at him. "I'm fine," he assured, "get Batman taken care of first."

"You are obviously injured as well, friend. Your movements are stiff and your breathing is shallow," Aqualad continued as he helped Superboy secure Batman's stretcher for takeoff. By now the Dark Knight was out of it. Whether it was the drugs or the pain that sent him into unconsciousness, Aqualad figured it would be better that way.

"My ribs are probably bruised, cracked at the most. I took a chunk of rock to the side," Robin relented after a moment. He resisted Kid Flash's offer of help and gingerly lowered himself onto a seat.

"Look, bro, don't tell me that after your speech to Batman you are going to refuse help. Seems hypocritical," Kid Flash grouched.

Robin removed his arm from over his eyes, "So you did hear that?"

"Yep, pretty much the entire thing. You can be pretty loud when you want to be. Now, let us help."

Robin stared appraisingly at Kid Flash for a few minutes. He trusted his team and was sure they were hurt by his refusal for help. However, he didn't have the same level of trust with them as he did with Batman. Around his team he sometimes caught himself acting tough to allay any belief that he wasn't as good. After all, he was the youngest member and didn't have powers. Great, he really was becoming like Batman. But at the same time, Robin realized that he had proved his worth three years ago when Young Justice was just starting out as a team. After his brief moment of introspection Robin accepted the offer of help.

Wally tried to fight off an absurdly goofy smile at his victory; it wasn't every day that a member of the Bat family placed their trust in someone else. His smile faltered when he saw his friend's black and blue side. "Dang Rob, you look like the whole cave came down on you." A few moments passed as Kid Flash carefully poked around Robin's injured side, "Looks like you're right, I can't feel any breaks."

Robin ignored his friend as he let him bandage his ribs. Once the painful process was over he leaned back in his seat. Somewhere behind him he could hear the telltale signs of heavy breathing. Superboy must be hovering again. The clone had developed the nasty habit of hanging around to ensure his teammates' health after an incident several years back that ended in the entire team, except for Superboy, being injured. Robin found the hovering oddly comforting.

With Kid Flash's incessant chatter, Superboy's hovering, and the sounds of his mentor's breathing evening out beside him, Robin began to drift off. He had breached another layer of his mentor's armor and had come to trust his team a little bit more that day. And to think it all started with a dreaded drug bust. He still hated those things.

* * *

><p><strong>Angelina: Please forgive my language and long absence again! Life is crazy, but that never seems to cease. <strong>

**Arthur: Life would be bloody boring if it wasn't crazy. **

**Angelina: For once I agree with you, Arthur. **

**Arthur: Shocking. How bad did that sentence taste coming out of your mouth?**

**Angelina: Absolutely awful. Anyways, I am currently on a writing binge. Hopefully I will write enough stories to be able to update 1-2 times a month while at college. So far I have three in the works. I will try to update once more before I leave for school and **_**will**_** write at least three stories to put up while I am at school. I don't want to be taking these ridiculously long breaks from writing. This is my most successful story and as much as I don't like some of these stories at times, I can't stand not writing! **

**Arthur: Thank you for that absurdly long message. On another note, Angelina is planning on going back over her previous stories and cleaning up some typos, grammar issues, and awkward sentences, about time too. **

**Angelina: Arthur! So if you see that the story has been updated but nothing new is out, I am just trying to improve the overall qualities of my stories for you guys (and my own sanity). **

**Until next time!**


	49. Just Another Monday

Just Another Monday

By

Angelina

I hated Monday. Mondays meant that the weekend was over and my friends and I had to return to our normal lives. We had to go back to school, turn in our homework, and act like normal teenagers. We had to put back on the mask of normal citizens as we studied seemingly trivial subjects and listened to mindless gossip. Mondays meant getting up early and going to bed obscenely late. Mondays meant trying to hide our dangerous lives under the mundane cover of normalcy. Even if we knew the requirements when we signed up to be heroes, it didn't make the reality any better.

As I straightened my Gotham Academy uniform, I couldn't help but sigh to myself bitterly. "Mondays are the worst."

I threw my school bag over my shoulder and trudged out the door to face the world as Richard Grayson-Wayne. It was most definitely Monday.

* * *

><p>It was a normal Monday. I hated Monday. As usual, I was up far earlier than I would have liked. My work day loomed ahead of me.<p>

"Good morning, Sarah Jane," I tiredly greeted my reflection in the mirror as I got ready to face the day. All too soon I found myself on the road to Gotham. By 9 a.m. I was seated at my desk and checking over the agenda for the day. If anything, I was certainly a creature of habit. Ah, the life of a personal assistant; one devoid of glamour, full of routines, and unwelcome surprises.

I had just managed to get settled at my desk when the door behind me crashed opened and out walked a man in a smart pinstripe suit. His polished black and white vagabond shoes sparkled in the florescent lights of the office. On his head sat a white fedora with black ribbon, in which his signature notebook and pencil was stuffed. He paused for a moment to adjust the bright red handkerchief in his breast pocket before turning to survey our office. Several people stopped what their work to quickly look back as he stood like a throwback to the 1940s. Joe Scarbaldi, star journalist of the Gotham Herald, one of the most loved and feared figures in Gotham. Otherwise known as my boss.

The ring of the telephone by my elbow brought me out of my musings and back to reality. I snatched up the phone after the third ring, pen in hand to take a message. On the other line was a rather frantic man with a strong southern drawl. Immediately I recognized the caller's voice as one of Joe's informants in the homeless network. His reason for calling was short; the infamous Batman had been spotted again. Scribbling out the message frantically on my notepad, I thanked the man and hung up unceremoniously. "Mr. Scarbaldi!"

The journalist turned around with an eager look on his face. I handed the message and his PDA to him over my desk, "You've got another one." With a smile he grabbed his jacket off the coatrack outside his office and bounded for the door.

"Don't forget your interview at one; you've already rescheduled it twice!" I called after his retreating figure knowing full well that I would be ignored. Joe was like an overanxious hound on the scent of a fox. The game was afoot and he would run it into the ground.

For a good number of years Joe Scarbaldi had been tracking the infamous Batman, Dark Knight of Gotham. He had built up a small arsenal of information about the Bat and his partner Robin the Boy Wonder. Joe was determined to be the one to find out who Batman was. At the very least he wanted to be the first one to report that news to Gotham. Honestly, I didn't understand his obsession with the black clad hero (more like antihero if you ask me), but his witty writing style and research on all things Batman had earned him his position at the Gotham Herald.

The afternoon passed as it always did. I answered phones, made schedules, called people, took messages, made coffee, ran errands, and made sure Joe went to his one o'clock interview and three o'clock meeting. It was a hectic job, but I never complained. When the working day had finally closed I watched my coworkers leave one by one. By the time 8 o'clock had rolled around and Joe was still cloistered in his office, I started to pack up.

"You still here?" Joe asked accusingly as he came out of his office. "Just because I work late doesn't mean you have to, how many times have I told you that?"

I smiled slightly, "Too many, sir. Fresh coffee is in the pot, your mug is on your desk, cream is in its usual place. I've forwarded my desk phone to your office phone. I'll see you tomorrow Mr. Scarbaldi."

"It's Joe!" he hollered after me.

"Yes, Mr. Scarbaldi," I replied. After nearly five years on the job we had fallen into a routine.

Sighing wearily as I exited the elevator on the ground floor, I made a beeline for the coffee shop in the lobby. The shop stayed open late and was usually deserted at this time. As I approached the counter the barista looked up and smiled. "Good evening, Sarah Jane. Is Mr. Scarbaldi being a cruel taskmaster and working you late again?"

I laughed good naturedly, "More like working himself to death again, Jason."

"Your usual?" Jason asked as he disappeared behind a coffee roaster. I nodded, laid a five dollar bill down on the counter, and threw a one in the tip jar.

"So, is the big man after Batman again?" Jason asked casually as he started on my coffee.

"Isn't he always?" I returned. God**,** I loved our after work conversations. It wassomething to relax the nerves after a long day of trying to keep up with Joe Scarbaldi.

"You never told me how you got that job, anyway," Jason handed me my coffee. He leaned over the counter with an eager look on his face that reminded me of a child eager for a bedtime story.

"I still don't know how I managed to get this job," I tapped my jaw pensively trying to figure out where to start my story. "It was about five years ago. I was a young naïve girl with a degree in unemployment and a passion for vintage fashion. From the start everything seemed to be going down the drain, I was fresh out of college and my education was doing nothing to get me a job. I had applied to over 30 magazines, newspapers, editorials, publishing companies, and bookstores. None of them would take a new worker, even Starbucks had rejected me."

"No!" Jason chuckled sarcastically, motioning to his green Starbucks apron.

I swiped my falling bun out of my face before continuing, "It was by sheer luck one rainy day that I bumped into Joe Scarbaldi. With the jacket of my 1950s suit over my head to protect my felt hat, I had dashed for the nearest bus shelter as soon as it started raining. My oxford shoes splashing in the rapidly forming puddles as I ran. He sat on the bench under the shelter with a copy of the Gotham Herald in his hand and his fedora cast askew over one eye, perfectly dry. He glanced up as I entered the shelter and moved over so I could sit on the bench. For some reason he offered me his jacket and asked me how my day was. A gentleman in Gotham, if ever there was an oxymoron he was it. Like the pathetic girl I didn't know I was I started crying and told him everything. Next thing that I knew, I had a job as the personal assistant to the most renowned journalist in Gotham. It's funny how life works."

"Wow," Joe whistled. "That's quite the story. You should have been a writer with that level of detail.

"Working at a newspaper will do things like that to you," I chuckled. "So how did that audition for the Gotham Theatre go?" I changed the subject to Jason.

Jason's response was cut off abruptly by a figure neither of us had noticed until it was too late. I was too startled to scream as an arm reached out to grab me from behind. In an instant, I found myself pinned to the broad chest of a man. Before I could get my voice working, my head was forced back and a knife was at my throat. I froze in terror, tears starting to prick at the corner of my eyes. I was only vaguely aware of my assailant yelling at Jason to put all of the money in a bag. I could only surmise that Jason complied as a moment later the man was speaking again about being good and not calling the cops. My knees began to shake and made standing difficult. Constantly aware of the knife at my unprotected throat, I forced myself to stand as still as possible.

"Where are the keys to your car?" It took me a moment to realize that the robber was talking to me. Angered at my lack of response the man shook me roughly, the knife at my throat nicking my skin and sending a small rivulet of blood down my neck to stain my white blouse. "Where are the keys to your car!"

"Hey, easy man!" Jason called from somewhere to my right.

"Shut up!" the knife left my throat to point at Jason, "Stay where you are or she dies." The knife was back at my throat.

In a shaky voice barely above a whisper I managed to choke out, "In my purse."

"What was that?" the robber demanded, his grip on my arm tightening with bruising force.

"The keys are in my purse**.**" This time my voice was stronger, but my knees had started shaking again.

"You there," the knife was pointing at Jason again, "get me her keys." The knife was back at my throat.

I heard uneven footsteps, followed by rustling and finally jingling. "Bring 'em here nice and slow." The knife pressed closer into my skin, another stain formed on my blouse. As soon as the keys were passed off without incident, the robber began dragging me backwards. My high heels slipped precariously on the polished tile floor.

"No cops, kid, or she dies." The ringing in my ears had subsided enough to hear the menacing growl in the robber's voice. I really hate Gotham; only in Gotham wouldsome idiot rob a coffee shop in the lobby of a newspaper after hours.

The robber continued to drag me out the front doors. For a moment all movement stopped. With my head forced as far back as it would go by the knife at my throat, I got a clear view of the sky.

A car chirped down a dead end street. We were moving again, rounding the corner. My nylon covered foot protested being dragged along rough pavement. I wondered when I had lost a shoe. My car was in sight and the knife was loosening, no longer touching my neck. I could have made a move here if I had more guts. Now I really regretted not shelling out the money for self-defense classes.

"That is no way to treat a lady." The unexpected voice broke through my terror. Both my eyes and the robber's eyes searched the street franticly for the source of the new voice.

An eerie chuckle sounded from the opening of the street. The robber held me tighter, his knife flailing dangerously.

"I would let her go if I was you," another cackle followed, its echoes rebounding in the street. A masked figure clad in yellow and red emerged from the shadows at the dead end of the street, a black metal bat in hand and a devilish smile on his face. The robber took one look at him and shoved me aside, bolting for the exit. A solid black and grey figure dropped down in front of the robber. Batman.

"Wrong way," Batman's fist collided solidly with the jaw of the robber. My former captor reeled to the side and collided with the back end of a Volkswagen before crashing to the ground. He didn't get back up.

"For a big guy, he really wasn't smart," Robin commented as he couched over the downed man and retrieved the robber's backpack. "Looks like he made off with a couple hundred and some car keys. He even took the tip jar."

In the distance the sounds of sirens could be heard, "The barista must have finally called the cops," Robin commented. "Took him long enough."

Batman fixed his glare on Robin and cleared his throat suggestively. "Oh. Right," Robin tossed the backpack to Batman and approached me.

"You okay?" a hand was offered and I took it wordlessly, allowing the small teen to pull me to my feet.

I took a few steadying breaths, "Yes. I mean, no. I mean, I think so. I will be."

The young hero smiled and offered me my keys. I took them and turned them over in my hands uncertainly.

The sounds of sirens were getting closer. I glanced over in time to see Batman tuck a small metal bat behind the ear of the trussed up robber. This must be the famous calling card Joe was always going on about. For a moment I thought about how much Joe would have loved to be here to witness Batman and Robin in action. It was then that the full gravity of the situation I had been saved from hit me. I whipped around to see Robin's cape disappearing around the corner. Running as fast as I could, I managed to make it around the corner before they were fully out of sight.

"Thank you!" I called out. For a moment, I could have sworn that Robin gave me a salute, but then both figures were gone into the gloom of Gotham and police officers came running towards me.

* * *

><p>"Thank you!" The words rang out from the street behind me. As Robin was known to do, I turned and flashed a quick salute to the woman we saved before I swung off into the night. After all, Batman had taught me the dramatic exit all too well. I hear it works well with the ladies.<p>

The rest of the night passed in silence. At the end of patrol I couldn't help but think back on the woman and the robber. Gotham was so often terrorized by super villains. We barely made it through a week without saving the city from certain doom. Heck, we barely make it through a month without having to avert some crisis that threatened life on Earth as we know it. When we aren't busy saving the world – yes I realize how corny that sounds – there is always organized crime and the war on drugs to deal with. But what often goes unnoticed by the general public and the big newspapers are the small crimes. Small crimes make up the vast majority of crime Batman and I deal with. The pawn shop robberies, convenience store heists, car jacks, and muggers vastly overshadow the number of jewel heists, bank heists, and super villain stunts. One would think that such small scale petty crimes are beneath heroes like Batman and I. On most days I would agree, but sometimes I like to think that by stopping the small crimes larger crimes can be averted. I like to think that it matters to the city and its citizens that its protectors look out for the big and the small. So today, on another awful Monday, we averted a small crisis. Batman and I saved a woman's life and stopped a man from becoming a murderer.

Another Monday passed. I tried to be normal by day, a hero by night, and was unfortunately an awkward teenager at every other point in the day. I complained about my history exam and got a B on my English essay (Bruce is going to be so mad) in the same day that I stopped a crime and saved a woman's life. Such juxtapositions would always exist in my life, and Mondays would always be there to drag them out into the light to force me to analyze them. God I hate Mondays.

* * *

><p><strong>Angelina: Well it's been over a year since I last published. I should apologize as I didn't mean to be absent for so long. But I am learning that often things like fanfiction must be sacrificed if I am to be successful in my life. The last year has been long and I am learning that high school was honestly a breeze. Now I am faced with making it through college, working a real job, paying rent for my horribly cramped apartment, trying to buy a car, and the little things I took for granted when living with my family. <strong>

**Arthur: It's been a hard summer. Angelina has been interning back home and has had to move away from her family to be closer to her job. **

**Angelina: A quick look at my life has shown me that I cannot continue this story forever. Life is ultimately more important. I have also glanced around the fandom recently and seen that many people are moving on now that the Young Justice has been cancelled. However, I will hopefully continue to write as long as there is someone out there to read my stuff. It may not be perfect or updated frequently, but I doubt my obsession with the world of comics will ever fully leave me. **

**Arthur: We are still working on cleaning up this fanfiction (only made it to chapter 4 on the edits). So please stick with us as we work on reviving this thing and making it presentable once more. We hope you continue to read and enjoy this work. **


	50. What's the Point?

What's the Point?

By

Angelina

Robin sat silently at one of the monitors in the Batcave. He knew he should be working on updating security programs, that's what he was down here for anyway. But he couldn't bring himself to finish the work. Over the course of the past few weeks, he had inexplicably lost the will to do anything. He didn't really know when it had happened amidst his busy schedule, but life and teenage hormones had apparently decided to push him down and grind his face into the mud while they were at it. So instead of doing anything productive, he sat contemplating the point to life.

In the back of his mind the voice he had affectionately dubbed _Alfred_ as telling him that such weighty subjects should not be entering the mind of a fifteen year old and that if he really wanted to know the answer to his question all he had to do was look around him. As usual, Robin was ignoring that voice.

Over the past few months life had gotten incredibly bogged down and mind-numbingly repetitive. Batman had finally trusted him with solo patrols as Robin. Under strict observation and with dozens of contingency plans and even more rules, of course. School had gotten harder, prep work for college taking up his civilian life. The society of Gotham's elite had churned on at its ever frenzied pace, trapping him in the life of a socialite. On top of the added responsibility of his civilian life, Bruce had been taking an increasing number of trips overseas to secure a billion dollar defense contract. Meaning Robin had to step up in Batman's stead to help keep the streets of Gotham livable (they would never really be safe). As the grew longer, Robin saw less and less of his friends on Young Justice and more and more of the dark interior of the Batcave. What was once his secret sanctum was now turning into a trap, a quagmire intent on sucking him up and never letting him go. How did Batman do it day after day?

A heavy sigh left Robin, deflating his scrawny form as he sunk further into his chair. Life was hard and it kept getting harder. There was so much to juggle. So much stress to manage. His body and mind changed on what seemed like a daily basis.

The days were blending together, the nights not much better. The world seemed as if it had predetermined the path for his life and was pushing him down it relentlessly. School was grooming him to be the little boy genius everyone thought he was to be. Society was shaping him into the apathetic and vapid face of fame in Gotham. The League seemed to be molding him into the great hero everyone was certain he was. All courses of his life seemed to be laid out in front of him and as Robin stood exhausted at a midpoint in his journey he questioned what the whole point of anything was. Dick and Richard weren't too far behind in echoing that question.

In an effort to keep himself preoccupied he checked through his messages and planner. Several missed texts from Wally flashed up, their number decreasing after nearly two weeks of being unanswered. His schedule was tightly packed with patrols and necessary social outings while Bruce was away on business in London.

A red notification informed him that he missed the planned two year anniversary party of Young Justice several days ago. He stared at the screen blankly**.** Part of him was upset that he had missed the party, and part of him amazed that he had lost any accurate perception of what week it was, let alone day. Everything felt so tiring. He didn't know why he bothered to do any of it.

This wasn't the first time in his career that he questioned whether or not to continue. He had entertained many doubts and excuses for calling it quits over the years. But this was the first time that Robin had ever questioned the point of everything. That was usually one of the constants in his life, along with his iron will.

"I can't keep doing this or I'm going to burn out," Robin sighed to himself. "I just don't know any longer. I need some time away."

"You should have said something sooner," the voice of his mentor startled Robin. Years of training kept him from outwardly reacting to the surprise.

Bruce emerged from the staircase leading to the secret entrance of the cave. He walked forward until he was standing next to his seated ward. His eyes raked over the unfinished algorithms displayed on the monitor.

"Yeah, like I'm going to tell you I can't handle life right after you start to trust me," Robin's voice held a tinge of impudence.

Bruce's eyes narrowed minimally, "Trust was never the issue."

"So you keep saying," Robin shrugged off. "Whatever, I can figure this out on my own."

"Yes, you can and in time you likely will. But you don't have to do it alone," his guardian assured.

Robin snorted, "Rich coming from you."

As he turned to leave a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Bruce locked eyes with him. The expression reserved only for some of their more private moments played across his face. "Not having all of the answers is fine. Life is just as much about discovery and the adventure as it is about knowing what to do. Whatever you can't figure out is an invitation to learn more. You'll find your answers in time."

Dick tried to find the right words to vent his frustrations. "How am I supposed to figure things out when I don't even know what the point is?"

Bruce's face fell into solemnity for a moment, "I've often asked myself the same question. I can't tell you what the point of life is. We all live for different reasons. Mine are here in Gotham."

Dick easily read the subtext in Bruce's answer. His mouth quirked up.

"Why don't you take some time off," offered Bruce.

"But you're trip-"

"Already cancelled. Batman has been absent too often as it is. It's time I was back on the rooftops of Gotham," continued Bruce. . "In the meantime, why don't you visit your friends? I'm sure you'll find the answers you're looking for."

Robin smiled brightly at both prospects, "Really?"

"I'll be here if you need me," his mentor promised.

"Thanks Bruce!" before the elder had a chance to react,Dick was tightly hugging Bruce's middle before running off to God knew where, calling a goodbye as he went.

Silence fell on the Batcave once more. Bruce folded himself into the chair in front of the computer, his pensive gaze staring at the algorithm still on screen without truly seeing it. "They grow up so fast, don't they Alfred?"

The butler emerged from the secret entrance, a knowing smile on his face. "That they do, Master Bruce. That they do."

**Angelina: Here's another story! No year long wait this time. ****Thank you to my wonderful beta JoJo! **

**Arthur: Good for you, numpty. **

**Angelina: I've said my goodbyes again and am back at college. My stuff has been unpacked and mostly moved in. Classes start in the morning and work study on Monday. I should be excited, but I'm honestly a little scared to face my Junior year. This will be the first time I am truly alone. My elder brother Charlie and I went to college together (he transferred from community college my Freshman year) for the last two years. Now he is graduated and gone on to life and work. I return to college by myself, three states away from home with no family in the area. It will be a hard transition and now I have to learn to make it through life without leaning on my family. **

**Arthur: Her family is ridiculously close. Bloody everyone moves back home to stay together. **

**Angelina: Except William who's in Ohio and Dan who just accepted an internship in Houston. So no, only some of us. Anyway, I hope to update this story once every 1-2 months. It's a more realistic goal given my school load and added work load (working a part time job on top of college). **


	51. Forgetting

Forgetting

By

Angelina

Dick questioned how he got here. Trying to find the answers to his problems at the bottom of a bottle had sounded so good three shots ago. Now he was hopelessly drunk and still hadn't found the answers he wanted.

He would never understand how a good brandy could relax Bruce so much. Right now all he felt was a swirling mush of thoughts and a churning stomach. He wondered vaguely when he would get his brain back.

Sometime in the last few minutes his head had found a passable resting place on the cool bar. The view of the bartender was obscured by the shot glass of amber liquid in front of his face.

"Another?" asked the bartender as he adjusted the volume for the Gotham Knights game from migraine inducing to blaring.

Dick dragged himself off of the bar and wiped a miniscule amount of drool from his chin. "Nah. I shoul' be going."

The bartender shrugged, "I'll call you a cab, kid."

"Nah," Dick downed the last of his scotch. "The walk'll do meh good."

"Suit yourself," the bartender impassively collected the tip Dick had dropped on the counter. The bell above the bar door tinkled obnoxiously as Dick left.

It was raining in Bludhaven. It always seemed to be raining in Bludhaven. Dick could count on both hands the times he had seen the sun since moving to the city several years ago.

The night was bitterly cold. The wind whistled through the skyscrapers, pushing and pulling at his figure. Air escaped from his mouth in little puffs of steam, even with the majority of his face hidden behind an old wool scarf. Dick was sure he would have been more aware of the cold if it wasn't for the fire of alcohol still coursing through his veins and clouding his vision.

He walked on, vaguely annoyed at the general noise he had come to associate with Bludhaven. Although Bludhaven was a city unto itself, its atmosphere and noises reminded him so much of Gotham. Dick's teeth ground together at the thought of his former home. He couldn't exactly remember why, but he had a feeling that Gotham was part of the reason he now found himself hopelessly intoxicated.

Dick had never been a drinker, though he had reached the legal age well over a year ago. He had sworn never to overindulge in the stuff after too many years on the job, being forced to see the fallout of its curse night after night. He had seen enough broken families in his lifetime to throw away what little family he had left to the liquid's influence.

His musings carried him several blocks over, feet making a journey that his brain would never quite remember come morning. He estimated he was two blocks over from his apartment. The place was not much more than a tenement, but Dick was having trouble putting down roots and wasn't there enough to call the two ramshackle rooms home. As long as the apartment had a bed, fridge, roof, and some heat (albeit horribly untrustworthy "I'll stand here in the corner broken most of the time" heat) he didn't care. Feet continued to splash through the rain, now soaked through to his woolen socks. His apartment was in sight.

"Give us your money, kid!" the threat came out of nowhere. One thug seemed to materialize out of the smog in front of Dick as another stepped out from an alleyway behind him. They wavered for a moment, dividing into four thugs before swimming back nauseously into two. The one in front of him waved a knife wildly. Dick cursed his luck.

Even hopelessly intoxicated, Dick still managed to keep his wits about him. The two thugs were thoroughly surprised as one received a fist to the face and the other a boot to his solar plexus. Before either could react, Dick had a strong hand around the thug-with-the-knife's wrist. Quick pressure and a little bit of bending saw the knife clatter uselessly to the ground seconds later as the thug cradled a limp and painful wrist to his chest. Dick reached behind him to grab the other thug by his neck, the thug's struggles useless against his strong grip.

It was then that everything went wrong. The alcohol churning in his stomach finally caught up to him. Before he could stop himself, Dick was bent double heaving the entire contents of his stomach onto the pavement. The grip on both thugs was forgotten as bile and alcohol burnt its way up his esophagus and out of his mouth into a steaming pile. The stench was overwhelming.

Dick hadn't even finished heaving before a foot connected solidly with his ribs. One, two, three kicks and he found himself on his back in the alleyway behind his apartment. Bile pooled at the back of his throat and he began to choke hopelessly. The burn spread to his lungs.

"Jus' grab 'is wallet and let's get out of 'ere," one of the thug's scared voice penetrated Dick's wringing skull and aching body. His accent was thick and his English poor.

"Fine," the thug delivered another pointed kick to Dick's ribs before rolling him over with a worn boot into the puddle of Dick's vomit.

After another moment Dick was aware of hands groping through his back pockets. "Man, it stinks like hell. Damn kid can't hold his liquor."

Dick's choking came to an abrupt stop as he finally managed to expel vomit from his lungs. Everything hurt, but he continued to retch the last of the alcohol into a puddle beneath his face.

"Ye got what ye wanted 'Arry, let's get out 'o here," the scared thug called out as soon as Harry's hands left Dick's pockets.

Retreating footsteps answered him and soon Dick found himself alone. Alone, cold, wet, drunk, and in pain in the alley behind his apartment. His wallet was gone and with it was the paycheck he had been determined to drink away. He was vaguely thankful he had paid rent forward for three months, because he had just lost everything. Even the pictures of his family (and a few of Damian, though he would never admit to that) which he kept tucked away in his wallet were now gone.

Dick sighed, his scarf had vanished and his breath collected in a small cloud above his head before being whipped off by the wind. He really should get up and go inside, but the cold concrete felt soothing against his aching head and ribs. The stench of his vomit wasn't quite strong enough to deter his foggy mind and he fell asleep on the Bludhaven alley in a puddle of his own sick.

Several hours passed before Dick lurched back to consciousness. The first thing he was aware of was the pounding in his head. So this was the infamous hangover.

The next thing he was aware of was his sore ribs. His face cracked into a winch and he realized that something was crusted on it, pulling at his skin. Shallow breaths puffed into the frigid air as he rolled over onto his back, a hand clasped to his side. It was then that the overwhelming stench it him.

Sitting up with a groan, Dick remembered what had led him to pass out in the alley. Standing up was harder than he anticipated as the cold had numbed his hands and feet and his ribs throbbed. Once he was on his feet he managed to stagger into his building and up four flights of stairs to the only two rooms he had to his name.

A hand in his pocket saw him cursing as he realized that it was covered in frozen vomit and that his keys were gone. Bending over to dig through his frozen sock tugged on his ribs, but he was grateful that he kept a set of picks stowed away. He thought wistfully of the utility belt he had abandoned years ago as he finagled his door open.

Run down was the best phrase to describe his apartment. Filthy came in at a close second. The walls were bare and moldy; the linoleum on the floor cracked and peeling away. Dick was never sure if the tiles had once been white, or if they had always been that disgusting shade of brown. The kitchenette was small and the few appliances at least 30 years old and yellowed. His sink was piled high with dishes. A cockroach scurried under the table laden with half eaten pizza and forgotten takeout boxes. A moth-eaten couch sat in the corner under heaps of files, research, and dirty clothes.

A whirring _thunk_ sounded from the corner. As if it had sensed his presence, the heater stopped working. Dick sighed and glared at the useless contraption as the cold leeched back into his apartment.

Shoes were kicked off of sodden feet and a vomit covered jacket hit the floor with a dull thud as Dick trudged to his bedroom. His clothes were stripped quickly and thrown unceremoniously in the general direction of his overflowing hamper. Wrapped in nothing but a bed sheet, Dick collapsed into bed. He promised himself he would shower in the morning.

His headache throbbed in time with something beeping in the room. Dick groaned and pulled a pillow over his head, determined to ignore the beeping. It only took thirty seconds of the steady beeping before Dick's hand flew out from his cocoon and groped blindly along the milk crate that served as a bedside table. A minute later his cellphone was held gingerly to his ear. "What?"

"Dick," Bruce's voice on the other end flooded Dick's foggy brain with memories the alcohol had temporarily banished.

The argument had started as all pointless arguments with Bruce did, over their night job. Several years ago Bruce had let him step out as his own hero, even let him move to his own city. Over the years the friction of two dominant personalities had lapsed into an understanding that still made them the best partnership the Justice League had ever seen.

All was well and good overall, until two weeks ago when Batman had taken an arrow to the knee, literally. The unfortunate incident had required surgery and Dr. Leslie was enforcing strict recovery parameters. She had essentially benched Batman for three weeks. That had started the arguments about Dick's decreasing presence in Gotham. Bruce wanted Dick in Gotham more and in turn Dick had refused to abandon Bludhaven.

Disagreement had led to stony silence which had erupted one day into the yelling match of the year between the two heroes. Both had hurled barbed insults and dragged out the most offensive things they could think to say. Neither was willing to listen to the other. Eventually even Alfred had run for cover. The argument had ended abruptly when Bruce had crossed a line. Bruce's question shocked even the billionaire as soon as it had left his mouth, "Were you as much trouble for your parents as you are for me?"

Dick remembered staring shocked at Bruce for a full minute before storming out of the house. Upon reaching Bludhaven, he had detoured to a local pub, determined to forget the argument ever happened.

"Dick, don't ignore me." Bruce's voice brought Dick back to the present. The boy groaned and rolled onto his back, hissing when he jostled his sore ribs.

"What, Bruce?" What Dick had meant to be laced with venom instead sounded exhausted and defeated. He groaned again.

There was a pause on the other end. Dick could nearly feel the glare through the phone.

"I'm sorry." That was all Bruce said before the line went dead. Dick sat upright in bed for several minutes, shock lining his features. He could count on one hand the number of times he had witnessed Bruce apologizing to _anyone_.

A deep laugh bubbled up through his chest, and Dick let himself go. Collapsing back into the tangle of sheets on his bed, Dick laughed until his injured ribs positively _ached _and his eyes streamed with tears. His laughter carried him over the edge of exhaustion and the boy finally fell asleep to the sound of his own softening chuckles.

In the morning Dick found his wallet with all its contents intact, a bag of Alfred's homemade pastries, and a suspicious looking jar of liquid arranged neatly on his table. A small note attached to lid of the jar read _Wayne Family Hangover Cure_. With a splitting headache, Dick couldn't help but appreciate the sentiment.

Extracting his phone from a pile of newspapers several months old, Dick texted the man he knew was responsible for the gift. _Thanks Bruce. _That was all that needed to be said.

Several minutes later the annoying text alert Dick had assigned to his guardian blared through the apartment, grating against the raw nerves in his head. He glanced at the screen before smiling bitterly. Bruce's text read simply, _You're welcome. Clean your apartment, it's a pigsty. _

**Angelina: Well, junior year is well underway. I'm adjusting to life without Charlie. **

**Arthur: She has been bloody difficult about getting over her separation anxiety. **

**Angelina: And my boyfriend, Jeff, blew out his knee six months ago. They tried reconstructive surgery, but he's lost too much mobilization and has been separated from the Marine Corps (discharged). He'll be returning to Virginia to hopefully get a job there. If not, he's going to try transferring into college next term. **

**Arthur: The story is late, again. Hopefully Angelina will keep up enough to update once every 4-6 weeks. **


	52. Heritage

Heritage

By

Angelina

Robin adjusted the sunglasses on his face and took a steadying breath, it was now or never. An envelope was clutched in his slightly shaking hand. The team was off in their own corners of Mount Justice or back home in their beds at this early hour. Robin had planned this carefully, he didn't want an audience.

Striding into the Mount Justice common room with purpose, he only flinched slightly at the unexpected view of Connor sleeping on the couch. Robin hadn't anticipated the clone being here, but he wasn't going to let his teammate's presence dissuade him from his mission. A few more resolute strides carried him past Connor and to the kitchen counter. His calculations had told him that this was the optimal place to leave his package to ensure that it both got noticed and was protected from damage. He carefully arranged the ivory envelope between the colorful place settings M'gann was fond of and a bowl of fruit.

Robin sighed with relief as soon as the envelope left his hand. After nearly two years of begging, Batman had relented and allowed Robin to disclose his identity to the team. The boy had been beyond excited and the team eagerly accepted Dick Grayson into their hearts. Soon though, questions arose about his past. Google searches were done, news articles dredged up, and Robin was overwhelmed with the different perspectives his friends were finding on him. After a late night conversation, Robin had finally decided to give them the whole story from his point of view. The letter on the counter was everything he thought the team, his friends, needed to know about who he was as a person.

Robin never thought he would be nervous to tell them of his past. He often had trouble taking off his sunglasses after years of conditioned secrecy and the prospect of being so open and vulnerable around those he respected daunted him. He decided a letter would be the easiest way for him to get out everything he wanted to say. Alfred had even helped him compose it.

Now that the letter was out of his hands, his frazzled nerves were placated. He turned on his heel and left the common room with only one furtive glance back at the still sleeping Superboy. The zeta-tubes announced his departure.

As soon as the echoes of the automated voice died down Connor's eyes snapped open and he sat up. Curiosity was strong in the young hero. One of his dear friends had left something obviously important. He had heard Robin's – Dick's – heartbeat increase slightly when placing something on the counter. Whatever unsettled the nerves of a Bat had to be big.

The kitchen counter looked undisturbed, save for an ivory envelope sitting between Megan's cheerfully coloured place settings and the bowl of fruit he was planning on having for breakfast. The envelope was crisp in his large hands, the paper a heavier cotton rag used for calligraphy or fine penmanship. There was an embossed seal on the back that showed it to be from the household of Wayne. Connor recognized the surname as Batman's civilian identity.

"What do you have there, my friend?" Aqualad's smooth voice drifted into the room. The clone turned to see the Atlantian walking over to him. He was still dressed in his nightclothes and rubbing the last remnants sleep out of his eyes. Connor had forgotten that Kaldur was staying at the mountain for the week.

"I don't know," replied Connor. He turned the envelope over in his hand for a minute before he recognized Robin's handwriting. "Looks like it's from Robin."

"What's from Robin?" Both Kaldur and Connor turned as M'gann floated into the room followed by Artemis. The girl's had been having a sleepover from the looks of their matching makeup and nail polish.

"I think it's a letter," answered Connor. "What are you guys doing up?"

"We heard Robin's zeta and thought there was a mission," Artemis shrugged. "Guess he was leaving."

"_Recognized Kid Flash B-03_" Mount Justice's automated security system announced the arrival of Wally.

The speedster walked out casually, dressed in civvies and looking wide awake for the alarmingly early hour. He waved to the group of teenage heroes congregated near the kitchen before dashing over to join them. "Whatcha guys up to?"

"Wally! What are you doing here?" asked M'gann as the Martian floated over to give him a hug.

"Isn't it a little early for you, Baywatch?" Artemis arched an eyebrow as he hand found a familiar grip on her hip.

Wally shrugged, "Dick asked if I could come over to the mountain today. I couldn't sleep and had nothing better to do, so here I am." He spread his arms wide as if waiting for applause.

Kaldur broke the silence after a minute. "Have you seen our teammate today?"

Wally shoved his hands into a pocket. "Nah, figured I'd meet up with him later today. He's probably out with Batman right now. You know, doing the Gotham thing."

"He left us something," Connor held out the envelope.

Wally snatched it from him and looked it over quickly, eyes widening at the familiar seal. Before anyone could stop him, he tore open the envelope. The letter inside was scanned quickly before a look caught between happiness, amusement, and astonishment crossed his face. "Guys, you need to read this!"

Kaldur took the note from Wally before the speedster had a chance to crush the paper in his excitement. After scanning the first few lines, a small smile stretched over the Atlantian's face and he cleared his throat. His deep baritone voice rang out through the space as he read the letter aloud.

_Artemis, Connor, Kaldur, M'gann, and Wally, _

_You all know me, or at least I hope you do. The world never seems to get tired of following my life as Robin the Boy Wonder or Richard Grayson-Wayne, heir to billions. But few get to know the real me. And the few who do rarely get to delve deeper into where I have come from and what has shaped me as a person. So I've taken my story into my own hands to give to you. Wally, you've already heard some of this, but I want to share the rest with you and the team. _

_My family has been Romani, also known as gypsies in the more vulgar form, for as long as we've been able to trace our roots. My grandparents were German gypsies who escaped shortly after World War II to Romania. There my parents were raised in a troupe. For years they managed to survive as traveling performers in country locked behind the iron curtain of communism. When the Berlin Wall finally came down they joined a traveling circus and a few years later I came along. Fifteen years ago I was born on the road, a circus brat from birth. After all, the best acrobats start as babies. _

_My citizenship and allegiance belonged to Romania, the country my parents still called home. I spoke both Romanian and Romani as my mother tongue. I couldn't have been prouder of who I was and where my family came from. _

_We traveled all over the world with the circus. I grew up seeing places most people only read about. Pop Haly, the leader and manager of our international circus, tried to make sure to let us have a day to sight see. I will never forget seeing the Kremlin in Moscow, or the domes of St. Petersburg. Together my parents and I climbed the Eiffel tower in Paris. In Berlin my mother showed me the Brandenburg Gate and told me stories of a time I couldn't understand. My father took pictures of my mother and me standing in front of Big Ben. Once we even sailed the Atlantic and past the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island. But of all the places in the world we traveled, I rarely ever got to see Romania, the place my parents called home. Every night they would tell me stories of our home country, of all its beauty, its glory. _

_Shortly after my sixth birthday my uncle, aunt, and cousin joined us at the circus, giving up life in Romania for life on the road. I never understood why they would give up such a wonderful life at home to join us, but I was too young to know of politics and war. _

_In fact, my parents never did explain to me the situation in Romania__**. **__That they left because of the persecution a lot of gypsies faced: the poor living conditions, the starving families, and the strict government. _

_I never got to discover a lot about my homeland before my family fell to their deaths, leaving me alone. A gypsy in America, a land my parents often spoke ill of. _

_The headlines were everywhere, but the truth would be a while in coming to light. A mob boss, Tony Zucco, had sabotaged our set and murdered my family during our trapeze routine. I watched my family die in front of me._

_With no one left to care for me, I went into the foster care system and quickly found out why my parents didn't like this country. America didn't want me here. They tried to send me back to Romania, to live in an orphanage there as it was my rightful homeland. But there was this one social worker, an old eastern European woman, who fought tooth and nail to let me stay. A lot of good that did me at the time. No one wanted a circus brat; no one had room for me. The system was all but overflowing and I was discarded to the only place they had room, a juvenile detention center. I was stuck in a country I didn't know, where they spoke a language I didn't understand. _

_Still, I knew enough English to know that the guards and other kids mocked me. All I wanted was to go back to the place my parents talked of with fondness, to enjoy the celebrations with my own people. To be free again. _

_And then the incredible happened, billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne adopted me, and I became an American citizen. I had to learn fluent English. I had to learn to act like a normal kid, especially after I became Robin. _

_I was never encouraged to speak Romanian or Romani out of the manor, but Bruce made sure to learn the language, just so he could talk to me. The conversations we had in my native tongue are among the most treasured. It was in Romani that he explained to me about his own past and why he took me in. He had seen a bit of himself in the lost orphan I had suddenly found myself as. He wanted nothing more than to give me a good life. _

_In school I was required to learn the history of a country I had no interest in. But as I slowly came to know more about America, I slowly started to fall in love with it. The lofty ideals, the government, the unique struggles it had gone through, even the horrible persecutions it had committed were interesting to me. It was a country with many flaws, many stories of bravery, and many stories of tragedy. It was a story that was unique and fascinating; it was a story not yet complete. I wanted to know more. _

_The more I learned, the more I came to appreciate and respect the country to which I now owed my allegiance. I was happy to be American; I could take pride in it. _

_This newfound identity, homeland, and family helped to carry me through hardship. I became Robin, sentinel of Gotham. I became privy to humanity. I saw its darkness and existed in its odour. On the streets of Gotham I grew up fast, but I also grew up under the wing of Batman (wordplay in a serious letter, I know. But come on, it's me!). Eventually, I found you guys and the rest I guess you already know. _

_Over the course of my life I have learned many things and taken on many identities. This is why I wanted you guys to know about my heritage. I will never fully leave behind the Romani circus boy I started out as, but now I am something much more. I am Robin, Dick Grayson, and Richard Grayson-Wayne. I am a boy with many identities and many secrets. Above all, I am your friend. _

_Dick Grayson_

Kaldur's voice faded into the mountain. The team stood around their leader in thought as each tried to process the information their youngest had revealed. After years of secrecy and questions, having so much out in the open was difficult to process.

"He was very brave to open himself up in such a manner," Kaldur was uncharacteristically the first to break the silence.

Wally sighed, "yeah, he doesn't really do the whole vulnerable thing. That took a lot for him to do. I've been his best friend for years and I only knew about the circus."

"You knew his back-story?" demanded Artemis. Accusation ringing in her voice as grey eyes narrowed.

"What can I say? I'm just that special." Wally shrugged, absentmindedly munching an apple he had raided from Connor's fruit bowl. "Plus, I've known Rob a lot longer than any of you have."

M'gann spoke up for the first time since the letter had been read, "I can't believe we finally get to know Dick. All these years and we finally get to know more than a name and a face!"

Connor and Kaldur smiled at the irrepressible girl before both left the room, chatting amicably about how far they had come as a team. Artemis and M'gann followed soon after, the former re-reading Dick's letter as she went. Wally collapsed onto the couch, deep in thought over the newest revelation in the life of his friend. No matter what, he would be the first to talk to Dick after this. Just as he was usually the first person Dick went to.

In the late morning, the Robin cycle pulled to a roaring stop in the garage. Normally Robin would have taken the zeta tube from Gotham to Mount Justice, but after a long night of patrol and the letter he had left for his team, he wanted the time to relax. Leaving his helmet swinging on the handlebars of the bike, he stretched slowly before steeling himself to face the confrontation he knew was coming. He had expected to be ambushed by someone, but Wally still caught him by surprise.

Before he managed to even enter the mountain he found Wally leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. For once, Robin couldn't quite read his expression. Or was that his nerves interfering?

"So you're a gypsy?" Wally asked with a raised eyebrow. "Cool."

Robin smiled back at him as he felt relief wash over him. His characteristic laugh bubbled up, "Thanks. Not a lot of people feel that way about us. But I felt that after all of this time, you guys deserved the full story."

"It's about freaking time, dude! I mean really," Wally's exasperation and expression sent Robin laughing again, the last of his tension melting away. He and Wally walked into the mountain to be quickly welcomed by the rest of their friends.

When all was said and done, Dick was happy he had told his story. He was a gypsy, he would always be Romanian. He would always have the blood of his parents flowing through him, reminding him from where he had come. Reminding him of his first home. But he was also now an American and a hero; titles and a heritage he shared with his best friend, his team, and his father.

**Angelina: I have Dick's grandparents hailing from Germany because it's very stereotypical for Romani to be Romanian (that's not their native land). However, since most people on this site, me included, often use Romanian as Dick's mother tongue, I had the tie in there. Gypsies were persecuted in the Holocaust during World War II and many did flee to surrounding nations. **

**Arthur: Enough with the history lesson, I doubt they care. **

**Angelina: Anyway, I wanted to write a piece in which Dick explains why his heritage is important to him. He never truly gave up who he was before his parent's died. But I also wanted to include the new identity he took on, as displayed in a changing of nationalities. Also, as the daughter of immigrants, I wanted to pay homage to America as it is the country and culture I call home. **

**Arthur: Angelina would also like to tell everyone that we are studying abroad in Oxford for the term. So don't really expect many updates (not that she ever updates anymore). **

**Angelina: I would also like to say that I've been watching Glee recently and thanks to the example of Kurt Hummel, I've decided to come out of the closet. I'm asexual! **


	53. It Gets Better, Right?

It Gets Better, Right?

By

Angelina

**Trigger warning: Depiction and discussion of suicide**. **Suicide is a serious issue. Depression and suicidal thoughts can happen to anyone, but are also prevalent in the LGBT community. If you, or anyone you know, are experiencing crisis or thinking of taking your life, please contact the TREVOR Project. They save lives every day. **

Gotham glowed with a menacing softness under twinkling holiday lights. The glow and splendor of the decorations were all too often a cheap cover for the murky city beneath it. A glance to the right and left of the downtown district saw darkened streets with blackened buildings. Older buildings still bore the industrial soot that had permeated deep into the bricks. Rickety fire escapes were silhouetted by the fairy glow of Christmas decorations.

To Robin, the whole view was cheap. It was as if the city had put on a mask for the holidays in a vain attempt to make people happier, distract them from their everyday lives. It was all in the name of capitalism of course. The buy, buy, buy of the season stretching out across the cityscape on billboards, buildings, and walls.

For a fourteen year-old boy, Robin was surprised by how little he enjoyed the Christmas season. Sure, he enjoyed the presents and getting to spend time with his family and friends. But his five years on the streets of Gotham had hardened him to many things, and Christmas was one of them. The American people were always so obsessed with the idea of a "merry" Christmas, that the holiday was somehow a magical time in which human misery took a vacation and left everyone alone in their candy-coated, holiday light, Christmas tree oriented fantasies. Peace and goodwill to men, all that jazz. Robin had learned how ugly Christmas could look. He knew that misery never took a vacation and how isolating the American Christmas could be for many people.

"Whatcha thinking so hard on, Rob?" the voice of Kid Flash cut through Robin's musings. The speedster stood behind Robin on the rooftop of a six story tenement.

"Your dismal attempt at a surveillance mission," Robin snarked back. He and Wally always argued over Christmas and he didn't want to repeat last year's fight.

Kid Flash was dressed in his standard red and yellow costume, a candy bar in one hand on which he was loudly munching. "I forget my stealth gear one time," the redheaded hero mumbled through the chocolate in his mouth.

"Surveillance KF, that means quiet and stealth. Two things you fail miserably at. Remind me why I brought you along again?" Robin asked with a biting smile.

"'cause I'm awesome, duh," replied Kid Flash. In reality, Kid Flash was along to fulfill the buddy-system mandate that an absent Batman had enforced.

Robin snorted at the incorrigible speedster and stood, his joints creaking audibly as the young acrobat unfolded from his crouched position. He gave Kind Flash another withering look before motioning to an old chimney on the building. The speedster sighed and propped himself up against the chimney, bats and their surveillance missions.

With Kid Flash out of his hair for a few minutes, Robin turned back to the job at hand. They were on the western side of Gotham, keeping watch on a young mother believed to be the target of a local drug lord. Poor woman had a hard enough life already without suddenly attracting the unwanted attention of an unstable druggie.

Movement inside the building Robin and Kid Flash were watching had long since ceased. The inside was dark and the tenants asleep at the early hour of the morning. A street lamp outside the building illuminated the entrance and cast the alley next to it in shadow. The night had been quiet for the most part, no contact had been made with the target and Robin was getting ready to call it a night.

A movement in the darkness on the rooftop next to the tenement Robin was watching caught the young hero's attention. He scrutinized the other rooftop for a moment before his eyes widened and with a leap he was swinging away from his hiding place. A person stood on the edge of the twenty story tenement for a moment before letting themselves fall forward off the building. Their body twisted and flailed obscenely as it plummeted to the ground.

Robin swung towards the falling body, an arm extended. The jumper fell heavily onto his arm, nearly wrenching it from its socket. Robin grit his teeth against the pain. Miraculously, the jumper didn't jerk around much as the young hero continued his trajectory towards the ground. They were coming in too fast. Robin knew that trying to land at this speed would be disastrous to his mobility and could likely kill the person he was trying to save. At the last moment he twisted his body around on the line to change the direction of the fall and let go of the grappling gun. The two continued to fly forward a few feet before crashing into a pile of rubbish bags left to the side of a building.

The bags were enough to cushion their fall, but the landing was still rough and Robin cut his arm on a rusty can in one of the bags. He rolled with the fall and finally tumbled to a stop on the concrete, rolling quickly back up on his feet. The person he saved was lying spread-eagle on their back, wide eyes staring straight up. The person's chest heaved wildly as they shuddered and sobbed.

"Robin!" the voice of Kid Flash was loud in his ear. "What happened? Where did you go? Do you need backup?"

Robin turned away from the person still sobbing into the rubbish and turned on his communicator, "Calm down KF. False alarm, it was just some kid fooling around."

"Where do you want to meet up?" asked Kid Flash.

Robin tried to quickly dismiss his friend before he came looking for him, "I've blown our cover so let's call it a night, okay? I'll meet you at the cave tomorrow for that brotastic gaming night."

"Gotcha, I'm back to Central then. KF out." Robin was glad his best friend decided not to question everything tonight. He switched the communicator off and turned back to the quieting jumper in the rubbish.

Robin slowly approached the figure, hands splayed in a calming gesture. As he finally got close enough to properly view the jumper he was surprised to see the face of a young man staring back. He couldn't have been much older than Robin, his face clean-shaven and his coarse brown hair still bearing the traces of a styling gel. Carefully Robin checked him over for injuries and spread a shock blanket over the kid before helping him to sit up.

"Hey there, what's your name?" Robin tried to get a response from the nearly hyperventilating boy.

The kid choked on his breath before leaning over and retching into his lap. Robin was careful to keep his nose from scrunching up at the smell of pile. A disgusted reaction was not wise in this type of situation.

"Is there anyone I can call for you?" Robin asked gently. He was already extracting the wallet from the teen's back pocket. "Your family maybe?"

The teen's eyes widened at that and he started sobbing again. "Okay, wrong thing to ask." Robin finished lamely.

Batman had always dealt with the suicides before, usually calming then down enough to get a professional on the scene. This was Robin's first time trying to handle a suicidal case solo. There was a psychologist at Gotham PD that the Bat trusted, he made sure to keep the number programmed into the Batcave's computer system. Robin quickly patched through to the private line.

"Dr. Gates speaking," a gruff voice answered on the other end.

"I've got a Code Red on the 9th block of Tempest and S. Down. Caucasian male in his late teens to early twenties. He's in shock and hasn't said anything. How fast can you get here?" Robin fired off quickly.

"I'll be there in ten, try to keep him engaged," the gruffness fell from his voice as urgency took its place.

Robin disconnected the call and looked back at the boy. He had stopped sobbing and now keened quietly. "Thank you."

The soft voice took Robin by surprise. He hadn't expected the kid to be coherent yet. "What's your name?" he repeated his earlier question.

"Thomas, my friends call me Thom." There was a distinct rasp in the voice that likely came from the strain of crying. "God, I can't believe I just did that!"

Robin cocked his head to the side. He wanted to keep Thomas talking, he wasn't nearly as good at calming suicidal cases as Batman was. "Are you hurt, Thom?" he settled on a simple question.

"I don't think so. God, what have I done?" the kid ran a hand through his hair. Robin got a peek at a Harvard bracelet on his wrist. "I shouldn't have jumped; as soon as I jumped I realized I could fix everything."

Thomas began to hyperventilate again. Diversionary tactics it was then, "Where do you go to school?"

Thomas looked quizzically at Robin and his breathing slowed, "Uh, Harvard."

Robin whistled, "you must be pretty smart then. Whatcha studying?"

"Pre-law, stereotypical I know," a breathless laugh followed Thomas' statement. The two sat in silence for a moment, Thomas working on steadying his breathing and Robin keeping him calm.

"I'm gay," the admission came out of nowhere and startled Robin. '

"Yeah?" the young hero asked. "One of my best friends at school is gay. He's pretty cool when he's not trying to beat me out for top grades."

Thomas laughed again, "Boy wonder goes to school. Who'd have thunk it?"

They sat in silence again. Robin estimated Dr. Gates was three minutes out when Thomas spoke again, "I'm home for Christmas and I decided to tell my mom today about my sexuality. She told me not to come back home until I decided I was straight."

Robin tried to hold back a sigh. This was an all too common occurrence for the youth on the streets of Gotham. "That's wrong. Your parents are supposed to love you more than anything." _Like mine did_, Robin added in his head.

Thomas' breathing hitched, but he didn't start crying again. His words slurred some, "I can't believe it. You always hear about it, but you never think it'd happen to you. Now what am I going to do?"

Robin could hear a siren in the distance. He prayed it was Dr. Gates. "I've got someone coming to pick you up, Thomas. They're going to take you to Gotham General. There will be someone there with information on an LGBT housing center for those in crisis if you need it. There are people who care about you, Thom. Never forget that." He tucked the ends of the shock blanket around the college student.

Thomas blinked back at Robin before starting to cry again. Snot dripped down his chin as he sobbed. Way out of his depth, Robin sat there with Thomas in the rubbish until Dr. Gates pulled up in a squad car. Thomas was gently helped into the car and soon it was gone again, leaving Robin standing awkwardly with a vomit covered shock blanket. For a few minutes Robin continued to stand there, not sure what to do. He retraced his steps and found his grappling gun, miraculously unharmed and still sitting in the middle of the street. Carefully he zipped up to the rooftops, mindful of his sore arm. Right now he needed to get as far away from this place as possible.

Eventually the young hero found himself on top of the Wayne Tech corporate building. Stretching high into the cityscape of Gotham, Robin sat and brooded. As hard as he tried, the young hero couldn't quite bring himself to understand why someone would commit suicide. He had spent so long fighting to live, it seemed so foreign to him to want to die.

In the back of his mind he heard Artemis' voice talking about the helplessness of depression and the tempting solace of suicide. He wished he had paid more attention to her words. Maybe in the future he'd listen to her more closely when she talked about such things.

A clock on his wrist computer popped up and Robin sighed at the reminder to return to the Batcave. Bruce had left him in charge with specific instructions to return to the Batcave by a certain time and to always remain in contact with the Watchtower. He had been threatened with months of Robin being grounded if he failed to follow Bruce's rules. One of the Justice League members Bruce trusted enough not to maim on sight in Gotham would be by soon to relieve Robin and take over his patrol. There hopefully wouldn't be much for them to do that night.

While he waited for a confirmation of Justice League presence to come through, Robin decided to let some steam out. There was no sense in letting the night's events get to his head. Tipping off the side of Wayne Tech tower, he flew. Robin sailed through the air, twisting slightly as he fell. He wondered if people felt this adrenalin surge when they jumped. For him this was the ultimate release, the thing that made him happy. Was it like that for those unfortunate souls? He hooked a grappling line from his belt and shifted to get a better angle on his shot. Suddenly arms encircled Robin's form and he landed heavily against a solid body. Air rushed from his lungs at the contact and he was left gasping as the building he had just jumped from sped past.

"I thought you were a suicide!" a voice that sounded suspiciously like Superman grouched. Sure enough, Robin tipped his head back to find the consternated and slightly concerned face of the Kryptonian looming above him.

Robin smiled humorlessly at the image, "It happens, Supe. Could you put me down before someone mistakes me for Lois?"

Superman grunted and lowered them both gently to the rooftop Robin had just left. The teen slid gracefully from his arms and landed lightly on the balls of his feet.

"Are you okay?" asked Superman as he set Robin down.

Robin quickly put on his jovial expression before he turned back to the older hero. He forced his voice to remain steady and slightly sarcastic when he spoke, "Course I am. Looking forward to the pile of calculus back at the cave."

Superman narrowed his eyes but let it go after a moment. He waved the young hero off as Robin leaped off the building again and disappeared into the night.

The Batcave was silent, Alfred nowhere in sight when Robin came in. The young hero sighed, he had been hoping for a hot cocoa. With nothing else to do for the moment, Robin sat down and typed up his patrol report for the night. Another wonderful responsibility Bruce foisted on him.

Reports usually only took him fifteen minutes at the most to complete. Tonight the report dragged on well past thirty minutes. On a whim, Robin decided to hack into the Gotham General database and find some information about Thomas. Maybe his parents had come to get him.

He was in through the backdoor of Gotham General's database in under a minute. Scrolling through the electronic files brought up one Thomas Caldwell, admitted earlier that night. Robin clicked through the file, eyes scanning for pertinent information. Thomas was apparently 19, AB+, and dead.

The time of death stamped on his file took Robin by shock. He had been declared dead at the hospital. An autopsy had yet to be performed but the preliminary cause of death had been listed as an overdose of some type. The best Robin could figure was that Thomas had taken something before he jumped, maybe as insurance or maybe he jumped when he thought the overdose hadn't worked. Either way, the teen Robin had saved barely two hours ago was gone. A young life ended too soon over a too stupid a reason.

Robin finished his report on autopilot before finishing up his nightly tasks. His civilian clothing was still folded in the neat pile he had left it in. His calculus homework sat next to his clothes on the table.

"Are you alright, Master Richard?" the smooth voice of Alfred drifted over as Dick was pulling his uniform off.

For once, Dick didn't even think of lying. "No, I'm not Alfred."

If the admission surprised the butler and pseudo-grandfather, the man didn't show it. "Would you like to talk about it, Master Richard? Or should I bring you a hot chocolate?"

Dick smiled sadly, "Cocoa would be great. I just want to take a shower."

By the time the boy had finished scrubbing his skin raw in the industrial shower of the Batcave, Alfred had already set out a steaming mug of liquid chocolate next to a folded pile of dryer warmed pajamas. Dick smiled at the gesture. When he finally emerged from Batcave, he was surprised to find Clark Kent seated in the living room.

"Alfred let me in," Clark answered Dick's question before the boy could ask. "I thought something was wrong and decided to check in. Alfred said you had a bad night."

"Traitor," Dick didn't really have the heart to glare. He sank into one of the armchairs scattered about the living room with a sigh.

"Should I call Bruce back?" asked Clark. Dick almost smiled at the air of awkwardness around Clark. He was out of practice comforting teens after avoiding Young Justice for over a year.

"There was this college kid, Thomas. I caught him after he took a header off a building near my surveillance point," Dick was surprised at himself for letting his guard down so soon. He wasn't nearly as good at hiding things as Bruce was.

To his credit, Clark simply nodded before taking a seat opposite of Dick. He appeared content to listen for the moment, not immediately speaking up with empty platitudes.

Dick continued, "He'd just come out to his parents and his mother told him not to come back home until he decided he was straight. I got him help, thought he'd be okay. The idiot had taken something before he jumped and died on the way to the hospital."

Clark heaved a heavy sighed, "Suicides are never easy to deal with, no matter how you look at them."

Dick scrubbed a hand across his face, exhaustion creating lines in his face. In a matter of minutes the teen had aged beyond his years. "It's supposed to be the time of year for family. How could a family do this to one of their own?!"

Clark flinched at the harsh tone. Not long ago the exact same argument had been leveled at him, though in an vastly different context. "I don't know, Dick. I hope I never know. It never gets easier."

"It's supposed to get better. That's what everyone tells you, tells the kids who see death as their only way out. Sometimes I wonder if that's true or just a false promise. God, Clark. I've seen what's out there, how am I supposed to believe and convince others that it gets better?"

Clark was really out of his depth now. Dick was barely fourteen and carried enough cynicism for a lifetime. The older man wondered how long it would be until Dick lost his jovial spark of youth. Their night jobs were hell on any attempt to remain sane. "Life is as much a fight as it is an adventure. You already know that, Dick. Thomas wasn't weak for what he did, he just lost his battle. Life may not always get better, but sometimes when you stick it out life has a way of surprising you. Look, Dick, I really don't know what to tell you. Lois will tell you I'm horrible at heart-to-hearts, especially after this last year," Clark looked a little sheepish at that admission, "the best I can give you is the advice not to let Thomas and others like him make you lose hope. You can't save everyone, but you can strive to make the world a better place. A world where people like Thomas won't have to face the hardships that cause them to take such drastic measures. See the world not as it often is, Dick, but as it should be."

"You really are the Big Blue Boy Scout," laughed Dick, "I don't think you could have said something more stereotypically gallant than that." And like that the normal Dick Grayson was back. The heaviness melted off his face and the sadness in his eyes dimmed.

"Do you want me to call Bruce in?" Clark offered, hoping that Dick was stable enough for now without having to bring Bruce back in.

"Let him finish his top-secret mission," Dick stood to leave. "I have an appointment with my duvet."

Clark watched him go before turning to leave himself. He passed Alfred on the way out to the Batcave. "Merry Christmas, Alfred," he offered politely.

"I believe the merriness of this time of year is relative, Mr. Kent," the British man offered. "Tonight certainly has been a lesson in that."

**Angelina: I'm posting this from Ireland! My time at Oxford is done and now I'm spending a few weeks traveling with my classmates before we head back to our respective homes all over the world. **

**Arthur: She's really excited to travel. **

**Angelina: We rented a 16th century cottage in the Lake District and hiked through the fells for nearly a week, next we are off to Ireland where I'll get to meet my Great Aunt for the first time (dad called ahead), and then we're off to the Highlands of Scotland to stay with my Granda. Then it's off to Edinburgh for a few days and finally a train down the eastern coast back to London where we'll go our separate ways. **

**Arthur: I finally made it back to my home and now we have to leave again! **

**Angelina: He's a bit depressed. On another note, ****I wanted to do a piece on suicide because I have a friend who just came out as transgender and is struggling with depression. **

**Arthur: It is a serious issue that deserves serious discussion. If you felt we have offended in any way with this story, please leave a comment or a PM about having the story removed. **

**Angelina: This was put together rather quickly and hasn't been run by my beta so the quality of that will show through. **


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